Beach Stone-curlew

Scientific Name: Esacus magnirostris
Malay Name: Kedidi-Malam Besar Pantai
Chinese Name: 澳洲石鸻

Range:
Breeding Range: Andaman and Nicobar Island, coastal Malay Peninsula, Indonesian archipelago towards Philippines on the northern side, New Caledonia on the western side and northern Australia on the southern side.

Taxonomy:
Monotypic.

Size: 53-57 cm

Identification:
Large, thickset bird with medium long sturdy legs, heavy head, bulky bill and broad wings. Bustard-like appearance. Head marked with black, white and grey/brown stripes. In flight, upperwings show mostly grey secondaries and mostly white inner primaries. Underwings all white except for black-tipped secondaries and outer primaries.

Habitat: Undisturbed sandy beach and sandflats often near mangroves.

Behaviour/Ecology: Mostly crepuscular and nocturnal. Vocal at night.

Local Status: Very rare resident. Likely extirpated.

Conservation Status: Near Threatened (BirdLife International 2016)

Featured articles:

• Bird List Revision for May 2019 (Revisions)
• Updates for January 2016 (Blog)

Past accepted records in our database:

Beach Stone-curlew at Bali. Photo Credit: Francis Yap

Beach Stone-curlew at Bali. Photo Credit: Francis Yap

Beach Stone-curlew at Bali. Photo Credit: Francis Yap

Beach Stone-curlew at Bali. Photo Credit: Francis Yap

Beach Stone-curlew at Bali. Photo Credit: Francis Yap