Gallery - Waders-Stone Curlew and Phalaropes

Thick-Knees (Burhinidae)

Thick-knees got their strange name becouse their "Knees"(which in fact are their heels)appear to be swollen

Stone Curlew (Burhinus oedicnemus)

A rather ungainly wader, often standing hunched up and camouflaged in stony fields and other flat, open areas. A summer migrant from Africa with a few winterings in Western Europe. The Stone Curlew feeds at dusk, dawn and after dark on insects and their larva. It nests on the ground in the open.

Phalaropes (Phalaropodidae)

Phalaropes are unusual birds, the females court the males and the males build the nests sit on the eggs and raise the young.

Grey Phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius)

Spends the breeding season in the High Artic tundra pools and coastal marshes. It winters at sea and often seen around the coasts of the south west.

Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus)

Feeds while swimming and spinning to stir up invertebrates. It also wades and picks food from the surface of the water. Its summer home is around small pools in the far north. Many winter in the Arabian Sea, often far from land.

© Simon Thurgood 2024
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