Beach Stone Curlew

The beach stone-curlew has been observed around the north coast of Australia and associated islands from Derby in Western Australia to the Manning River in New South Wales. The species has largely disappeared from the south-eastern part of its former range, and is now rarely recorded on ocean beaches in New South Wales. In Queensland, beach stone-curlews are uncommon on beaches in the south of the state but numbers gradually increase as you travel north.

The movements of beach stone-curlews are not well understood. However it is believed that they are largely sedentary, with young birds not moving very far from the parental territory.

The beach stone-curlew is usually found on open, undisturbed beaches, islands, reefs, and estuarine intertidal sand and mudflats, preferring beaches with estuaries or mangroves nearby. However, this species also frequents river mouths, offshore sandbars associated with coral atolls, reefs and rock platforms, and coastal lagoons.