  the stone curlew, eurasian thick-knee, or eurasian stone-curlew (burhinus oedicnemus) is a northern species of the burhinidae (stone-curlew) bird family. it is a fairly large wader though is mid-sized by the standards of its family. length ranges from , wingspan from  and weight from . (2011).crc handbook of avian body masses by john b. dunning jr. (editor). crc press (1992), isbn 978-0-8493-4258-5. with a strong yellow and black beak, large yellow eyes (which give it a "reptilian", or "goggle-eyed" appearance), and cryptic plumage. the bird is striking in flight, with black and white wing markings. despite being classed as a wader, this species prefers dry open habitats with some bare ground. it is largely nocturnal, particularly when singing its loud wailing songs, which are reminiscent of that of curlews. food consists of insects and other small invertebrates, and occasionally small reptiles, frogs and rodents. it lays 2-3 eggs in a narrow scrape in the ground. the stone curlew occurs throughout europe, north africa and southwestern asia. it is a summer migrant in the more temperate european and asian parts of its range, wintering in africa. ==etymology== the genus name burhinus comes from the greek bous, ox, and rhis, nose. the species name oedicnemus comes from the greek oidio, to swell, and kneme, the shin or leg, referring to the bird's prominent tibiotarsal joints which also give it the common name of "thick-knee". this is an abbreviated form of pennant's 1776 coinage "thick kneed bustard".{{cite b
Animals_described_in_1758 Birds_of_Africa Birds_of_Asia Birds_of_Azerbaijan Birds_of_Europe Birds_of_Western_Sahara Burhinus IUCN_Red_List_least_concern_species