Indian Thick-knee

Indian Thick-knee

Burhinus indicus

Silhouette: Auckland Museum · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Lucknow

In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%

56 Verified sightings at Lucknow
2,482 In all 17 parks From 2019 to 2026
June Best month
🌅 Crepuscular When it's spotted

About the Indian Thick-knee

The Indian stone-curlew or Indian thick-knee (Burhinus indicus) is a species of bird in the family Burhinidae. It was formerly included as a subspecies of the Eurasian stone-curlew. This species is found in the plains of South and South-eastern Asia. They have large eyes and are brown with streaks and pale marks making it hard to spot against the background of soils and rocks. Mostly active in the dark, they produce calls similar to the true curlews, giving them their names.

The Indian stone-curlew was formally described in 1866 by the Italian zoologist Tommaso Salvadori based on specimens obtained in India. He coined the binomial name Oedicnemus indicus. The specific epithet is Latin meaning "Indian". The Indian stone-curlew is now placed in the genus Burhinus that was erected in 1811 by the German zoologist Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger in 1811. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.

This species was formerly treated as a subspecies of the Eurasian stone-curlew Burhinus oedicnemus but the Indian population is distinctive in plumage, and non-migratory, leading to its being treated as a full species by Pamela Rasmussen in 2005. There has however been no... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call0:46

Thailand · 2025

© Ding Li Yong · XC961728 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Song0:36

Thailand · 2019

© Peter Ericsson · XC508633 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:14

India · 2017

© Sreekumar Chirukandoth · XC442820 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Udawalawe National Park 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
~20%
2 Ranthambore National Park 🇮🇳 India
~20%
3 Gir National Park 🇮🇳 India
~20%
4 Bandhavgarh National Park 🇮🇳 India
~20%
5 Kanha National Park 🇮🇳 India
~10%
6 Yala National Park 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
~10%
7 Keoladeo National Park 🇮🇳 India
~10%
8 Chitwan National Park 🇳🇵 Nepal
~10%
9 Kaeng Krachan National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
~10%
10 Wilpattu National Park 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
~10%
11 Satpura National Park 🇮🇳 India
~10%
12 Minneriya National Park 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
<5%
13 Royal Bardia National Park 🇳🇵 Nepal
<5%
14 Jim Corbett National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%
15 Manas National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%
16 Doi Inthanon National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
<5%
17 Kaziranga National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Bareilly 🇮🇳 India
~10%
2 Rajkot 🇮🇳 India
~10%
3 Lucknow 🇮🇳 India
~10%
4 Ahmedabad 🇮🇳 India
~10%
5 Thrissur 🇮🇳 India
<5%
6 Tiruppur 🇮🇳 India
<5%
7 Mysuru 🇮🇳 India
<5%
8 Kathmandu 🇳🇵 Nepal
<5%
9 Kota 🇮🇳 India
<5%
10 Ludhiana 🇮🇳 India
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing an Indian Thick-knee in Lucknow?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Indian Thick-knee sighting in Lucknow on a given day, based on 56 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 104th most-seen of the 200 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see an Indian Thick-knee in Lucknow?

June

In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report an Indian Thick-knee in Lucknow on a given day, against under 5% in March, July–October and December–January, the lowest months. That is one of Lucknow's wettest months, with about 140 mm of rain against almost none in November.

What time of day is best to see an Indian Thick-knee?

Between 3 and 6 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Indian Thick-knee sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.

Is Lucknow the best place to see an Indian Thick-knee?

Among the best

Of the 29 cities where we can rate Indian Thick-knee sightings, Lucknow ranks 3rd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Bareilly (India, about 10%) and Rajkot (India, about 10%).

Which relatives of the Indian Thick-knee live in Lucknow?

Same order: Charadriiformes

The closest relatives of the Indian Thick-knee that you can see in Lucknow (order Charadriiformes, Shorebirds and Allies) are Red-wattled Lapwing (about 60%), Bronze-winged Jacana (about 20%) and Green Sandpiper (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Indian Thick-knee sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Indian Thick-knee is recorded against all the birds logged in Lucknow (56 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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