General
Long-billed Curlew: Very large sandpiper with brown mottled upperparts and buff-brown underparts with dark streaks and spots. Bill is extremely long and decurved. Cinnamon-brown underwings are visible in flight. Sexes are similar, although female has longer bill. Juvenile has shorter bill.
Range and Habitat
Long-billed Curlew: Breeds from southern Canada to northern California, Utah, northern New Mexico, and Texas. Spends winters from California, Texas, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Florida southward. Breeding habitat includes plains and prairies. During migration, frequents lake and river shores, mudflats, salt marshes, and sandy beaches.
Breeding and Nesting
Long-billed Curlew: Three to five brown and olive spotted, pale olive buff eggs are laid in a grass-lined nest built in a ground hollow. Incubation ranges from 27 to 30 days and is carried out by both parents.
Foraging and Feeding
Long-billed Curlew: Feeds on insects such as grasshoppers, beetles, and butterflies, worms, crustaceans, and mollusks; also takes small vertebrates, including the eggs and young of other birds.
Vocalization
Long-billed Curlew: Song is a sharp "whit-whit, whit, whit, whit, whit."
Similar Species
Long-billed Curlew: Whimbrel has shorter bill, bold black head stripes, and lacks cinnamon-brown wing linings. Marbled Godwit has a slightly up-curved bill.