page_title: Burhinus
section_title: Taxonomy and systematics
hierarchical_section_title: Burhinus / Taxonomy and systematics
caption_attribution_description: English: Head of a Dikkop (thick head) nesting at Constantia, South Africa
context_page_description: Burhinus is a genus of bird in the family Burhinidae. This family also contains the genus Esacus. 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. The stone-curlews are found all over the world except Antarctica. They are mainly tropical, with the greatest diversity in the old world.
context_section_description: Burhinus was first described by Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger in 1811. Determining the correct placement of this family can be difficult as they are very ancient species. Burhinus are best placed in Charadriiformes. They resemble bustards (family: Otididae) and have been previously classified with them in Gruiformes. Their placement in Gruiformes is considered convergent evolution, as both orders have the same lifestyle and biotopes. Comparisons made of skeleton, biochemistry and parasites plus down on young, confirm Burhinus as a charadriiform.
  Based on multi-locus analysis, the stone-curlew family (Burhinidae) is probably closest to the family Charadriidae, not Scolopacidae. The optimal maximum likelihood phylogenetic reconstruction using multi-locus (ADH5, GPD3-5 and FGB-7) analysis placed Burhinus within Charadrii, sister to Scolopaci. They have some similarities to Glareolidae and some phylogenies do place them as a sister clade to this family. however this is also considered convergent evolution. DNA-DNA hybridisation as well as RAG-1 and myoglobin intron-II sequence data supports a link to Recurvirostridae. Burhinus and Chionis together are sister to the rest of the Charadriidae.
  A phenotypic study of Charadriiformes suggests that Burhinidae should consist of three genera – Esacus, Burhinus plus resurrected Orthorhampus. In this model, the bush stone-curlew would be removed from Burhinus and placed in a subfamily Esacinae with Esacus. This subfamily would be known as the greater thick-knees, while the remainder of the genus Burhinus would fall into Burhininae, the lesser thick-knees. This is based on character analyses of skeletons, skin and natal patterns. Esacus has sometimes been lumped within Burhinus, but Esacus are generally larger and chunkier with a larger bill and less mottled plumage. Burhinus is clearly distinct from Esacus, except for the bush thick-knee, which is the same size as Esacus. However, the bush thick-knee has more similar plumage to the rest of Burhinus. The Indian stone-curlew was split from the Eurasian species, as it does not migrate. It is possible that the population of Eurasian stone-curlews on the Canary Islands should also be split in this way as this population shows very little genetic variation.
  The bush stone-curlew has had a confusing history of classification. This species has previously been considered two species and B. magnirostris (the designation now used for the beach stone-curlew) has at times been used for this species leading to much confusion.  The Bush stone-curlew is now B. grallarius, as described by John Gould in 1845.
caption: Spotted thick-knee
exif: {"Image Make": "Panasonic", "Image Model": "DMC-FZ20", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop 7.0", "Image DateTime": "2009:01:30 20:33:11", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "2242", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 50, 53, 48, 0, 0, 14, 0, 1, 0, 22, 0, ... ]", "Image Padding": "[]", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/60", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2005:11:27 13:46:46", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2005:11:27 13:46:46", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "72", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "00", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "00", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3069", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1500", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "432", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "Low gain up", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF Padding": "[]"}