"Stone curlews appear to use their loud and far-carrying cries to achieve . Their presence in places where they are scarce or little known has sometimes been revealed when they have replied unexpectedly to recordings of their calls. The group evidently plays an important, but not clearly known, part in the spacing between nests. Social behaviour continues during incubation, with the non-sitting partners, unmated birds, and those that have lost their eggs, periodically meeting on afternoons, evenings, and at night; thus possibly enabling members of the community to know what is happening and, if necessary, to supply mates to birds that have lost their partners. These noisy meetings often take place well away from the nesting grounds and thus do not assist predators to find nests."