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{{Short description|Family of birds}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Stone-curlews
| fossil_range = [[Late Oligocene]] to present
| image = Burhinus grallarius - bush stone-curlew (3899777268).jpg
| image_caption = [[Bush stone-curlew]], ''Burhinus grallarius''
| taxon = Burhinidae
| authority = [[Gregory Mathews|Mathews]], 1912
| subdivision_ranks = Genera
| subdivision =
* ''[[Burhinus]]''
* ''[[Esacus]]''
* †''[[Wilaru]]''?
* †''[[Genucrassum]]''
| range_map = Burhinidae range.jpg
| range_map_caption = modern range
}}

The '''stone-curlews''', also known as '''dikkops''' or '''thick-knees''', consist of 10 species within the family '''Burhinidae''', and are found throughout the tropical and temperate parts of the world, with two or more species occurring in some areas of Africa, Asia, and Australia. Despite the group being classified as waders, most species have a preference for arid or semiarid habitats.

==Taxonomy==
The family Burhinidae was introduced in 1912 for the stone-curlews by Australian ornithologist [[Gregory Mathews]].<ref>{{ cite journal | last=Mathews | first=Gregory | author-link=Gregory Mathews | year=1912 | journal=Novitates Zoologicae | title=A reference-list to the birds of Australia | volume=18 | issue=3 | pages=171-455 [225] | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/3109569 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Bock | first=Walter J. | year=1994 | title=History and Nomenclature of Avian Family-Group Names | series=Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History | volume= Number 222 | publisher=American Museum of Natural History | place=New York | pages=112-113, 137, 247 | url=http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/handle/2246/830 }}</ref> The family contains two genera: ''[[Burhinus]]'' and ''[[Esacus]]''.<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | date=January 2021 | title=Buttonquail, thick-knees, sheathbills, plovers, oystercatchers, stilts, painted-snipes, jacanas, Plains-wanderer, seedsnipes | work=IOC World Bird List Version 11.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/buttonquail/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | accessdate=29 May 2021 }}</ref> The name ''Burhinus'' combines the [[Ancient Greek]] ''bous'' meaning "ox" and ''rhis'', ''rhinos'' meaning "nose" (or "bill").<ref>{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=81 }}</ref>

[[Molecular phylogenetic]] studies have shown that the family Burhinidae is [[sister taxon|sister]] to a [[clade]] containing the sheathbills in the family [[Chionidae]] and the [[Magellanic plover]] in its own family [[Pluvianellidae]]. The stone-curlews are not closely related to the [[curlews]], genus ''[[curlew|Numenius]]'', that belong to the sandpiper family Scolopacidae.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1=Kuhl | first1=H. | last2=Frankl-Vilches | first2=C. | last3=Bakker | first3=A. | last4=Mayr | first4=G. | last5=Nikolaus | first5=G. | last6=Boerno | first6=S.T. | last7=Klages | first7=S. | last8=Timmermann | first8=B. | last9=Gahr | first9=M. | date=2020 | title=An unbiased molecular approach using 3′-UTRs resolves the avian family-level tree of life | journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution | issue=msaa191 | doi=10.1093/molbev/msaa191 | doi-access=free }}</ref>

==Description==
They are medium to large birds with strong black or yellow black bills, large yellow eyes—which give them a reptilian appearance—and cryptic plumage. The names thick-knee and stone-curlew are both in common use. The term stone-curlew owes its origin to the broad similarities with true curlews. Thick-knee refers to the prominent joints in the long yellow or greenish legs and apparently originated with a name coined in 1776 for ''B. oedicnemus'', the [[Eurasian stone-curlew]].
Obviously the [[heel]] ([[ankle]]) and the [[knee]] are confused here.<ref name="Kochan94">{{cite book |last=Kochan |first=Jack B. |series=Birds |title=Feet & Legs |publisher=Stackpole Books |location=Mechanicsburg |year=1994 |isbn=0-8117-2515-4 }}</ref>

==Behaviour==
They are largely nocturnal, particularly when singing their loud, wailing songs, which are reminiscent of true curlews.<ref name=EoB>{{cite book |editor=Forshaw, Joseph|author= Harrison, Colin J.O.|year=1991|title=Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds|publisher= Merehurst Press|location=London|pages= 105–106|isbn= 1-85391-186-0}}</ref> Their diet consists mainly of [[insect]]s and other invertebrates. Larger species also take lizards and even small mammals.<ref name=EoB/> Most species are sedentary, but the Eurasian stone-curlew is a summer [[bird migration|migrant]] in the temperate European part of its range, wintering in Africa.

==Species==
A fossil genus ''[[Wilaru]]'', described from the [[Chattian|Late Oligocene]] to the [[Early Miocene]] of Australia, was originally classified as a stone-curlew, but was subsequently argued to be a member of the extinct [[Anseriformes|anseriform]] family [[Presbyornithidae]], instead.<ref>{{Cite journal|author=Vanesa L. De Pietri|author2=R. Paul Scofield|author3=Nikita Zelenkov|author4=Walter E. Boles|author5=Trevor H. Worthy|name-list-style=amp |year=2016 |title=The unexpected survival of an ancient lineage of anseriform birds into the Neogene of Australia: the youngest record of Presbyornithidae |journal=Royal Society Open Science |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=150635 |doi=10.1098/rsos.150635 |pmc=4785986 |pmid=26998335}}</ref> The living species are:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Picture !! Name !! [[Binomial name]]
|-
| [[File:Eurasian Thicknee - Along Po river - Italy FJ0A1202 (28252446508), crop.jpg|100px]]
| [[Eurasian stone-curlew]]
| ''Burhinus oedicnemus''
|-
| [[File:Indian Thick-knee Burhinus indicus by Dr. Raju Kasambe DSCN9380 (14).jpg|100px]]
| [[Indian stone-curlew]]
| ''Burhinus indicus''
|-
| [[Image:Senegal Thick-knee - Gambia (32528240471), crop.jpg|100px]]
| [[Senegal thick-knee]]
| ''Burhinus senegalensis''
|-
| [[image:Waterdikkop-crop2.jpg|100px]]
| [[Water thick-knee]]
| ''Burhinus vermiculatus''
|-
| [[Image:Kaptriel_-_Spotted_dikkop_-_Burhinus_capensis.jpg|100px]]
| [[Spotted thick-knee]]
| ''Burhinus capensis''
|-
| [[Image:Double-striped Thick-knee.jpg|100px]]
| [[Double-striped thick-knee]]
| ''Burhinus bistriatus''
|-
| [[File:Peruvian Thick-knee (Burhinus superciliaris), crop.jpg|100px]]
| [[Peruvian thick-knee]]
| ''Burhinus superciliaris''
|-
| [[Image:Bush Stone-curlew.jpg|100px]]
| [[Bush stone-curlew]]
| ''Burhinus grallarius'' (formerly ''B. magnirostris'', the bush thick-knee).
|-
| [[Image:Thimindu 2009 09 27 Yala Great Stone Curlew 2.JPG|100px]]
| [[Great stone-curlew]]
| ''Esacus recurvirostris''
|-
| [[File:Beach Thick-knee Inskip Pt2.JPG|100px]]
| [[Beach stone-curlew]]
| ''Esacus magnirostris''
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://ibc.hbw.com/ibc/phtml/familia.phtml?idFamilia=58 Thick-knees videos] on the Internet Bird Collection

{{Taxonbar|from=Q145854}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stone-Curlew}}
[[Category:Burhinidae| ]]
[[Category:Extant Cenozoic first appearances]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Gregory Mathews]]

Stone-curlew - Revision history

Ajay Kumar: Created a new article