Caladrius

The Caladrius is a species of Stone-curlew in the family Burhinidae, it is in its own genus, Caladrius.

Description

The Caladrius is a chicken-sized bird with pure white plumage. It has a long neck, bright yellow eyes and a yellow beak and legs. Its plumage can vary in color from yellow, with rusty-colored wings or a dark-yellow-tinge. these colors may also be mixed in a variety of mottled patterns, though the white variants are by far the most common.

Ecology

Caladrius are carnivorous feeding primarily on insects and other invertebrates, but also feed on fish, reptiles, amphibians and small mammals. They hunt exclusively on the ground.

Caladrius lay two spotted eggs in ground nests made of grass, feathers, pebbles and twigs, where both parents will care for the eggs and infants, taking turns bringing food back to the nest.

Like other Thick-knees, if a Caladrius nest is disturbed the parents will defend the nest with defensive poses, wings spread and tails cocked, and eventually sharp pecks. They will even feign injury to lure predators away and flying away once the predator is far away.

Habitat

Caladrius were once found throughout the Mediterranean and Western Europe, stretching through the Middle East and along the Nile River.

Caladrius are found near freshwater, such as along riverbanks and wetlands, as well as along coastlines and in grasslands and savannahs.

Relationship with Humans

During the Roman Empire and Medieval eras, Caladrius were thought to be able to cure diseases such as jaundice by returning the stare of the patient. The idea of the birds having healing properties is not entirely unfounded, but was vastly exaggerated.

Caladrius were captured in their thousands to be kept by kings or sold to desperate people hoping to be healed from any matter of afflictions they might have had, their dung and bone marrow was also thought to cure physical ailments such as blindness.

The Caladrius trade was an incredibly lucrative one as people would pay obscene amounts to obtain one of the allegedly healing birds. But this unregulated poaching soon resulted in Caladrius populations shrinking rapidly,

They were driven to the brink of extinction, with only a few dozen left.