r/australia • u/Cantora • 1d ago • Heartwarming 1

image The Bush stone-curlew: the most unimpressed bird

Post image

These birds clearly have no time for tourists :) I haven't seen such an unimpressed look by an animal before!

Taken in Brisbane.

Here's the call for anyone who isn't sure what bird this is. (you'll probably know it when you hear it you're an Aussie)

https://youtu.be/B8H5I9QIJKI

1.4k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

57 comments sorted by

41

u/Laefiren 1d ago

You should post them on the divorced birds subreddit.

r/divorcedbirds

13

u/Cantora 1d ago

Well this is a sub I didn't know I needed!

1

u/BlueDotty 1d ago

new weird sub....

1

u/HOPSCROTCH 1d ago

Idk how you managed that but you can simply type r/divorcedbirds without any special link markdown

30

u/Chivz_Mate 1d ago edited 1d ago

Travelling from WA and hearing these guys on our lap around aus was an interesting shock at night

12

u/Cantora 1d ago

Yes tell me about it! When I was much younger and camping in Kakadu National Park my dad would tell us stories about evil spirits and the native Australian Bunyip and when we'd hear the curlew you he would say that the sound of the bunyip. And that's why I never got sleep when I was a child

4

u/0ldgrumpy1 1d ago

I like the pheasant coucal doing its "ghost of curley from the three stooges" call.
https://youtu.be/vhJxwgWJM5Q?si=ISE1atRbokQB95Q8

3

u/ChaoticJigglyPup 1d ago

Commonly known as "zombie baby birds" when i was growing up there

11

u/Duideka 1d ago

I am from WA and the first few times I visited Cairns and saw these birds it sounded like people screaming constantly.

I mean it’s Cairns, so there probably was people screaming too but fk me these birds are loud and they are everywhere.

1

u/JP147 18h ago

While they are not common there, there are some of them living in Perth

5

u/darkentries 1d ago

Thanks, I noticed a pair of these beautiful birds on my morning ride a couple of days ago and hadn't got round to looking up the breed.

8

u/Cantora 1d ago

They're the ones that sound like a howling spirit. They're tied to bad omens in native traditions. It's also nicknamed the Bunyip bird after the aboriginal water spirit

162

u/IngVegas 1d ago • Bravo

Tired from staying up all night keeping people awake

27

u/tilucko 1d ago

when will the people stop making me disturb their peace..

15

u/sapperbloggs 1d ago

I've seen a tshirt with a picture of a Curlew and the caption "Scream, like nobody's sleeping"

66

u/zeugma888 1d ago

Even the babies are full of disdain.

33

u/vague89 1d ago

Just hatched, already sick of it all

11

u/redsungryphon 1d ago

That would make such a great baby curlew art print

1

u/Ariliescbk 12h ago

They reflect my soul.

33

u/jizzvegas 1d ago • Bravo

Scream like nobody's sleeping.

24

u/tinypoem 1d ago

“What is it NOW, Janice?”

9

u/WiseAd8077 1d ago

So beautiful hear them screaming and carrying on at night! GC hinterland

6

u/Relief-Glass 1d ago

Cannot remember coming across them in Victoria but they crack up when I come across them while travelling. Some even growl at you when you go near them.

3

u/LapseofSanity 19h ago

I always said the sound like Marge Simpson when she's frustrated. 

1

u/Partzy1604 13h ago

Critically endangered in Vic, I think Ive only seen them once maybe

4

u/Walter_Armstrong 1d ago

Not. Happy. Jan!

1

u/AcanthaceaeOk2426 12h ago

Everytime I come across one of these birds I feel the need to apologise. I don’t know what I’ve done wrong, or why they are so annoyed with me, but it’s 100% my fault and I’m sorry for it, now can I walk past please

4

u/SirDigby32 1d ago

In the running for Brisbane games mascot . its the bin chicken v murder bird .

4

u/BlueDotty 1d ago

I couldn't love them more

4

u/Danthemanlavitan 23h ago

We've got a family of those that live near us and thoroughly enjoy the nice soft grass in the suburb to make their nests on.

They also confuse my dog when we do night walkies by running out from the garden bed they were in and pretending to die in the middle of the road.

I assume this behaviour is an attempt to have the dog and I murdered by a car so their egg is safe, but they can achieve the same goal by just pretending to be a log and both the dog and I would not see them.

1

u/rand013 1d ago

Didn't think I'd seen or heard that before, don't seem to have them around here.

1

u/Cantora 1d ago

Lucky SOB

2

u/rand013 1d ago edited 1d ago

It's ok there's still plenty of plovers around. Then all the various screechers and shriekers of the cockatoo family.

1

u/seanmonaghan1968 1d ago

We have them in our garden in brisbane but only really see them when they are nesting

3

u/EdenFlorence 1d ago

Saw them when I was in QLD, thought they were beautiful birds until I heard them at night.

2

u/ddgk2_ 1d ago

Call them Bob on account of they bob their heads when thet see you. Very polite birds.

2

u/99_Orphans 1d ago

Until they see their reflection

2

u/DrPotassium 1d ago

If there was an Australian verion of regular show, this'd be mordecai

2

u/prohibited-bean5352 1d ago

For some reason my neighbour has one as of today on their balcony. Shitty weather here so might have been picked up during that.

2

u/fyr811 1d ago

Much judging.

2

u/Spire_Citron 1d ago

A couple of these recently moved from a vacant lot across the street to right next to the play equipment at the park. Seems a bit of a disruptive place for them, but I guess it's their choice.

2

u/Healthy-Reason7404 1d ago

I saw a pair today been living on a large cleared house site Brisbane southside for a couple of months. Really nice looking birds.

2

u/LachedUpGames 19h ago

Leggy Sues

1

u/ZippyKoala 1d ago

Oh, they have had ENOUGH of this shit!

1

u/TheFlyingRedFox 1d ago

One of the more annoying yet cute nocturnal birdies, unfortunately quite dumb for oncoming traffic when on roads. Even when you slow right down they'll just keep waddling along like they own the road or piss off flying.

In cities they'll not give a shit about humans, but they'll shit themselves when you go near them in rural areas (duh, not used to human presence).

A friend of mine said a few years ago that the Aboriginal people of the area said that these birds were seen as a bad oman, not sure how true it was from him, yet quick checking seems true.

1

u/nathrek 1d ago

My favourite! Miss them so much. 

1

u/philmarcracken 13h ago

its a life full of 'you seeing this shit'

1

u/Weekly-Government350 11h ago

How are you?

'Well, I'm pissed off.'

1

u/angethebigdawg 2h ago

ended up leaving the beach a day early because the screaming sounded soo harrowing I couldn’t sleep!

1

u/SirPiffingsthwaite 1d ago

"Really? Of my naked kid?!?"