Biology:Senegal thick-knee

Short description: Species of bird

Senegal thick-knee
In The Gambia
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Charadriiformes
Family:	Burhinidae
Genus:	Burhinus
Species:	B. senegalensis
Binomial name
Burhinus senegalensis (Swainson, 1837)
range

The Senegal thick-knee (Burhinus senegalensis) is a stone-curlew, a group of waders in the family Burhinidae. Their vernacular scientific name refers to the prominent joints in the long yellow or greenish legs.

Range

It is a resident breeder in Africa between the Sahara and the equator, and in the Nile valley.

Description

Pair in flight, The Gambia

Senegal thick-knees are medium-large waders with strong black and yellow black bills, large yellow eyes — which give them a reptilian appearance — and cryptic plumage. They are similar but slightly smaller than the Eurasian stone-curlew, which winters in Africa. The long dark bill, single black bar on the folded wing, and darker cheek stripe are distinctions from the European species. Senegal thick-knee is striking in flight, with a broad white wing bar.

Habits and food

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Illustration of egg

This species has a preference for dry open habitats with some bare ground, preferably near water. It lays two blotchy light brown eggs on a ground scrape. It is most active at dawn and dusk. The song is a loud pi-pi-pi-pi-pi-pi-pi.

Food is insects, crustaceans and other invertebrates. It will also take other small prey.

Further reading

The field characters of this species and its separation from Eurasian stone-curlew are described in:

• Shirihai, Hadoram (1994) Field characters of Senegal Thick-knee British Birds 87(4):183-186

External links

• Senegal thick-knee videos, photos & sounds on the Internet Bird Collection
• https://www.flickr.com/photos/likifumei/542653503

Wikidata ☰ Q922125 entry