This thread has arisen in various forms on several occasions but there are a
lot of new contributors on the list. Bush Stone-curlews are common in
Brisbane including in and around the city heart - I've seen them recently in
the park opposite gate 2 at The Gabba cricket ground; on Countess St above
Roma St Parklands (these would be Laurie's birds I presume); in New Farm
Park and even roosting below the window of an entirely concreted industrial
building in Birubi St, Coorparoo; as well as around St Lucia where they are
nearly impossible to miss, usually around the car park below the Hartley
Teakle building on the UQ campus but also elsewhere.
When I was driving cabs at night around the city some years ago, there
weren't many suburbs where I didn't come across them, including in suburban
estates where there are no shortage of cats and dogs. So the interesting
query to me is not the name (Thick-knee is falling out of favour anyway) but
why they've thrived in northern Australian cities while sliding towards
extinction in the south. I suspect they have successfully adapted to urban
life while being another victim of land clearance in woodlands inland, and
note that in the suburbs they are almost always found in open and well-lit
areas, which presumably helps protect them from predators.
Andrew Stafford
Freelance journalist
Author: Pig City http://www.qmf.org.au/02_cal/details.asp?ID=18
5/222 Sir Fred Schonell Drive
St Lucia QLD 4067
Ph. 0404 812 470
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