Burhinus

Burhinus
Spotted thick-knee (B. capensis) in burnt grassland, South Africa
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Burhinidae
Genus: Burhinus
Illiger, 1811
Type species
Charadrius magnirostris[1] = Charadrius grallarius
Latham, 1801
  range of genus
Synonyms

Oedicnemus Temminck, 1815[2]

Burhinus is a genus of birds in the family Burhinidae. This family also contains the genus Esacus.[3] The genus name Burhinus comes from the Greek bous, ox, and rhis, nose.

The Burhinus are commonly called thick-knee, stone-curlew or dikkop. They are medium-sized, terrestrial waders, though they are generally found in semi-arid to arid, open areas. Only some species of Burhinus are associated with water. The genus ranges from 32 cm to 59 cm in size. Burhinus are characterised by their long legs, long wings and cryptic plumage. Most species have a short, thick, strong bill.[3][4] The stone-curlews are found all over the world except Antarctica. They are mainly tropical, with the greatest diversity in the Old World.[3]

  1. ^ "Burhinidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  2. ^ Hemming, Francis (1956). "Suggested review of the entries on the "Official List of Generic Names in Zoology" of the entries relating to the names Oedicnemus Temminck, 1815, and Burhinus Illiger, 1811 (Class Aves)". Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature. 9 (1): 86–88. doi:10.5962/bhl.part.10239.
  3. ^ a b c del Hoyo J, Elliott A, Sargatal J (1996) Handbook of the Birds of the World, vol 3. Lynx, Barcelona
  4. ^ Marchant, S., & P.J. Higgins (eds) 1993. Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Volume 2: Raptors to Lapwings. Oxford University Press, Melbourne. ISBN 0-19-553069-1