Long-billed Curlew

Numenius americanusOrder: CHARADRIIFORMES Family: Sandpipers (Scolopacidae)

Codes: Common Name: LBCU Scientific Name: NUMAME ITIS Taxonomic No.: 176593

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Overview

Long-billed Curlew: Very large sandpiper with brown mottled upperparts, buff-brown underparts with dark streaks and spots. Bill is very long, decurved. Cinnamon-brown underwings visible in flight. Feeds by probing mud with bill or dunking head under water. Direct flight, steady, strong wing beats.

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.

Topo Map: Sandpiper-like Body

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"whit-whit, whit, whit, whit, whit"

Interesting Facts

The long-billed curlew is the largest shorebird in North America.

It has been known as "sicklebird" and "candlestick bird." Candlestick Point in San Francisco was named after this indigenous bird.

Adults actively defend their eggs and young by pretending to be injured and leading the predator away. They will also use vocalization to drive away a predator and will sometimes dive at predators.

A group of curlews has many collective nouns, including a "curfew", "game", "head", "salon", and "skein" of curlews.

Bird Term Glossary

Author

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Long-billed Curlew

● Song: "whit-whit, whit, whit, whit, whit"

● Foraging & 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.

● Breeding & 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.

● 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.

Flight Pattern

Steady, strong wing beats in direct flight.

● Range & 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.

^BreedingMonogamous, Colonial, Semicolonial

^PopulationWidespread

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight19.2 Ounces

Sandpiper-like Body

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America