The Water Thick-knee is a large shorebird that is active at night along rivers and lakes. Its mottled gray-brown plumage helps it blend into grass and waterside cover.
It has gray-brown plumage with fine mottling, large eyes, and yellow legs.
It is active at night and searches for food along rivers, lakes, and wetlands. It may remain still among grass and waterside vegetation.
In southern Africa, it eats insects and other invertebrates, frogs, and tadpoles. It runs a short distance, pauses, and jabs at prey with the bill.
In southern Africa, it nests in a shallow ground scrape in an open area near water, laying 1–3 eggs. Both sexes incubate for about 22–25 days.
The folded wing has a gray panel and a thin white bar, contrasting with the wing pattern of the Spotted Thick-knee.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.