Meet the Locals

Bush Stone Curlew

#OnlyinMainBeach

Bird – large-eyed and long legged terrestrial foragers known as thick-knees
Burhinus grallarius -Burhinidae
Nocturnal
Diet – mainly of insects and other invertebrates. Larger species will also take lizards and even small mammals
Territory – Reasonably common in the north of Australia, more rare in the less fertile south.

Bush Stone-curlew

Burhinus grallarius
Burhinidae

If Bush Stone-curlews are nearby you may hear their eerie, high-pitched wailing at night. This ghost-like call is their contact call, and may be given by several birds in a chorus. Rendered as weer-lo, it is repeated four or five times, sometimes culminating in a trilled, screeching crescendo. It is sometimes also heard during the day, when stone-curlews are usually inactive, standing quietly in the shade with their eyes half-closed, or squatting on the ground where their cryptic plumage makes them difficult to see among the leaf litter. . . continue reading

One Comment

Steve 30 November 2019 at 12:26 am - Reply

Comment form Di Challinor
Re posted by Steve
“Unfortunately, since the removal of the ponds just north of the Sheraton Mirage, they, along with literally hundreds of other birds, have left the immediate area, pushed north, or elsewhere, seeking a new water source.
Can we look at influencing the powers that be to install some kind of water feature somewhere on the Spit to cater to the ever dwindling wildlife.
I used to see dozens of species of native birds between the Surf Club and the end of the concrete path including Rainbow Bee Eaters, Pheasant Coocals, dozens of finches, a Primary owl, many hareems of Blue Wrens, Noisey Friarbirds, Honeyeaters etc etc. etc.
All have now disappeared with the loss of their watering hole.
Let’s help bring the Spit wildlife back to life by offering them a little water.
There’ll be no Nature on the Spit without water.”