Curlews

[desertbirds]

Had a pleasant suprise on the driveway into work this morning. She sat by the roadside for most of the most morning so i ended placing some witches hats around so people might look out .We have a couple of resident pairs at the park , sorry about the picture quality but it was iphone pic.She growled a bit, the chicks are very cute.

[mattymeischke]

Great pics again, DB.

The first time I was out bush in the NT they scared the sh!t out of me.
I was alone in my swag and heard this spooky howling/moaning noise. It was all around me...
It sounded like there were dozens of them.... Were they dogs? Overexcited teenagers? Experimental dance music?
At first light I went and found what was making the noise, and laughed out loud. They have a wonderfully comical appearance when they walk. I believe they are also called 'thick-knees'.

How old are those chicks? And how big are they? About baby chook size, or bigger?

[spanna]

Very cute chicks. I recently took one of my friends (another converted finch lover, thanks to me in no small part ) to my local bird store to get some good finch mix. There are always a number of curlews there, and they were standing very still close to the wire when my friend walked up to them. She didn't see them until they moved right in front of her, causing her to jump about a metre back and almost wet herself she said they look creepy, but I think they're great. Anyone think they would do okay in an aviary with a pair of major mitchells??

[matcho]

Matty,
Had the same experience at Lake Tinaroo. Thought I was hearing a murder with blood curdling screams!

[desertbirds]

Not sure on age of the chicks but im guessing a few days,roughly day old chick size. Bush Thick knee is another term used and yes they are quite creepy birds even before they make that blood curdling noise after dark. They like to stand still and pretend " you cant see me ".

[wagga]

There was a farmer/parrot breeder just north of Albury who has fenced off an area on his farm to protect the Curlews on his property. By reducing the cats/foxes on the property the curlew population increased. I have heard for quite a while how they are going.

[Tintola]

How can you call this creepy? As a comparison the lower pic is a 2 day old chick. I think the other 2 have just hatched.

[jusdeb]

More info please .
Where they are found ?
Are they a threatened specie ?
How they go as aviary birds ?

No not creepy at all , actually have the cutest little feet hey ?

[desertbirds]

Well Deb i have seen them on Magnetic Island, Alice Springs and up near Darwin so i dare say they have a huge range. Tintola can say how they go in aviaries but from what ive seen they do just fine. Yes they are a threatened species in some areas.Cats would be biggest problem, its no coincidence we have have wild pairs at the park as we a big electric fence. They spend most of the time on the ground and therefore are very vunrebal to predation . I had them nesting in the back yard on the Island so they dont mind people just cats and dogs they arent real keen on. I might suggest that feral pigs and the like would clean up heaps of eggs too. i only meant they are creepy as that statue like stance and i nice growl. Beautiful birds.

[MadOzzie]

Some young idiots apparently set alight a juvenile curlew in the Brisbane bayside suburb of Cleveland on Tuesday night.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/wa ... z1cctiy16E" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

MadOzzie