Burhinus grallarius
Silhouette: Auckland Museum · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The bush stone-curlew or bush thick-knee (Burhinus grallarius, obsolete name Burhinus magnirostris) is a large, ground-dwelling bird endemic to Australia. Its favoured habitat is open plains and woodlands, where it stalks slowly at night in search of invertebrates such as insects. Its grey-brown coloration is distinguished by dark streaks, its eyes are large and legs are long. It is capable of flight, but relies on the camouflage of its plumage to evade detection during the day; the bush curlew adopts a rigid posture when it becomes aware of an observer. Both sexes care for two eggs laid on the bare ground, usually sited near bush in a shaded position or next to a fallen branch.
The bush stone-curlew was first described by English ornithologist John Latham in 1801 under the binomial name Charadrius grallarius. Latham published three names simultaneously; however, the seniority of C. grallarius follows the publication of the names in John Gould's Birds of Australia in 1845.
Until a revision determining the priority of names assigned to this species, ornithologists cited the description under the epithet B. magnirostris. Descriptions of subspecies were published by Gregory... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daintree National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Kakadu National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Lamington National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Nitmiluk National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 5 | Litchfield National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brisbane | 🇦🇺 Australia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Bush Stone-curlew sighting in Kakadu National Park on a given day, based on 225 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 87th most-seen of the 186 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June and August
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Bush Stone-curlew in Kakadu National Park on a given day, against about 10% in March–May, July and September–January, the lowest months. Those are among Kakadu National Park's driest months, with almost no rain against 350 mm in January. February has too few records to rate.
Between 3 and 6 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Bush Stone-curlew sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Bush Stone-curlew sightings, Kakadu National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Daintree National Park (Australia, about 10%).
Same order: Charadriiformes
The closest relatives of the Bush Stone-curlew that you can see in Kakadu National Park (order Charadriiformes, Shorebirds and Allies) are Comb-crested Jacana (about 50%), Masked Lapwing (about 50%) and Whiskered Tern (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Bush Stone-curlew is recorded against all the birds logged in Kakadu National Park (225 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
