India GO
Bird · Esacus recurvirostris
Great thick-knee
IUCN NT · Near threatened
A large, pale, long-legged wader of riverbanks with a heavy upturned black-and-yellow bill and a startling yellow eye. It nests directly on open shingle.
👀 How to recognise it
It relies on stillness, so scan the sandbars slowly for a bird that looks like a rounded stone until it walks. Largely crepuscular - best at the first and last boat of the day.
Where to see it
Mysore
Ranganathittu's islets formed after the Mysore king Kanteerava Narasimharaja Wadiyar built an embankment across the Kaveri in 1645–1648, and the great thick-knee is one of the birds that nest on them.
Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary (often)