Bush Stone-curlew Identification Guide

Key Field Marks

• Large, long-legged ground bird, about 55–59 cm (22–23 in) tall, with a slender, upright stance.
• Cryptic grayish-brown plumage finely streaked with black and buff, providing excellent camouflage against leaf litter and dry grass.
• Very large, staring yellow eyes, an adaptation for nocturnal activity.
• Long, pale gray-green legs and a relatively short, straight bill.
• A pale wing stripe and dark shoulder markings can be visible in flight or at rest.
• By day it often stands motionless or crouches low with neck outstretched flat along the ground when alarmed, relying on camouflage rather than flight.

Separating It From Similar Species

• Beach Stone-curlew: notably larger and bulkier, with a heavier black-and-yellow bill and a preference for coastal mudflats, mangroves, and beaches rather than inland woodland; Bush Stone-curlew's bill is comparatively slim and pale.
• No other Australian bird combines the tall, long-legged stance, huge yellow eyes, and cryptic brown streaked plumage in open woodland habitat, making it distinctive once seen well.
• Often first detected by its call after dark rather than by sight, since it is cryptic and largely inactive by day.

Habitat, Range & Season

• Found across northern and eastern Australia, including open eucalypt woodlands, grassy plains with scattered trees, and increasingly parks and golf courses in some towns and suburbs.
• Largely resident where found, though it has declined and disappeared from parts of southern Australia due to habitat clearing and introduced predators.
• Most active at night (crepuscular/nocturnal), foraging on the ground for insects and other small invertebrates; roosts quietly in shade or leaf litter by day.

Voice

• A far-carrying, mournful, wailing "weer-loo" call given mainly at night, often rising and falling and sometimes performed as a duet or chorus among several birds — an iconic and somewhat eerie sound of the Australian bush after dark.
• Calls can carry a long distance and are often the first clue to the bird's presence, well before it is seen.