Shhh! Stone Curlews at nest

This is one of the pair of Stone Curlews that nested by the side of one of our Bee-eater hides on the plains of Lleida.

Stone Curlew, Burrhinus oedicnemus.

The nest was basically a small hollow lined with a bit of dry grass and gravel-sized stones. The eggs, two, were speckled and brown-beige. The adults were very discreet in their comings and goings, as you would expect from a ground-nesting bird. One of the adults would incubate while the other would stay around preening, dozing or stretching itself, although at times the incubating bird also got up and took a small rest from pre-parental responsibilities.

Stone Curlew, Burrhinus oedicnemus, eggs and nestStone Curlew, Burrhinus oedicnemus, nest and eggs

On Wednesday the female started making some strange noises, which Jordi Bas explained as the female making contact with young which were almost ready to hatch. Sure enough, the next day there were two tiny chicks, to the delight of all. Today all the birds have gone from the nest site.

One Response to “Shhh! Stone Curlews at nest”

  1. Jaume Says:
  2. It’s fantastic,I saw them from bee-eater hide, I hope to see the youngs next year.

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