Class Aves
Order Charadriiformes—Shorebirds
Burhinidae—Thick-knees // Recurvirostridae—Stilts and Avocets // Haematopodidae—Oyster Catchers // Charadriidae—Plovers // Scolopacidae—Sandpipers and Relatives // Alcidae—Murres and Murrelets // Laridae—Gulls
The shorebirds are a large, successful group with a worldwide distribution. Many, as the common name implies, are associated with aquatic habitats though generally not themselves aquatic. Although most of the families are of birds feeding on invertebrates along shorelines or in shallow water, the gulls mostly are fish predators though they also will feed on invertebrates.
The family is distributed world-wide, but primarily in the tropics. Often arid to semi-arid habitats are inhabited, though in such cases usually near water.
Howard's (1971) records of two species of thick-knees from New Mexico (Dark Canyon Cave) are the first recognized fossil occurrences in the United States. The Double-striped Thick-knee (Burhinus bistriatus) inhabits "arid semi-open country, savanna and openings in dry woodland (Tropical Zone) (AOU 1983:164). The nearest approach to our region is southern Mexico.
One specimen (a proximal humerus fragment) is close to B. bistriatus in size, but too fragmentary for sure identification (Howard 1971).
Fig. 1. Burhinus bistriatus. Photograph by Philipp Weigell. Published under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 Unported.
Sites.
Mid/Late Wisconsin: Dark Canyon Cave (Howard 1971).
Literature. AOU 1983; Howard 1971.
A second species of thick-knee present in Dark Canyon Cave is smaller than B. bistriatus and apparently represents an extinct species (Howard 1971). Measurements by Howard of the specimen (femur) indicated it was 9-14% shorter and 12-17% narrower than in the two specimens of B. bistriatus available. Howard believed it probably was conspecific with a specimen from San Josecito Cave, Nuevo León, México. It is similar in size to the extinct Pleistocene B. nanus Brodkorb from the Bahamas Islands (Howard 1971).
Sites.
Mid/Late Wisconsin: Dark Canyon Cave (Howard 1971).
Literature. Howard 1971.
Last Update: 19 Mar 2013