General

Bristle-thighed Curlew: Large, brown-streaked shorebird with long decurved bill. Eye-line is dark and contrasting eyebrow is white. Rump is cinnamon-brown. Bristle-like feathers at base of legs are inconspicuous. Sexes are similar.

Range and Habitat

Bristle-thighed Curlew: Breed in a limited area of western Alaska, on the lower Yukon River and the central Seward Peninsula. Spends winters on a wide range of small islands in the south Pacific, including Hawaiian Islands, Mariana Islands, Micronesia, Fiji, Samoa, and French Polynesia. Preferred habitats include quiet, undisturbed beaches and coastal grassy fields and pastures.

Breeding and Nesting

Bristle-thighed Curlew: Four olive buff eggs marked with brown are laid in a ground depression lined with moss and leaves, usually built directly beneath dwarf willow shrubs. Both parents incubate the eggs for about 25 days; performs distraction displays and outright attacks on potential predators to defend eggs and young.

Foraging and Feeding

Bristle-thighed Curlew: Eats worms, grubs, beetles, crabs, maggots, and eggs of nesting seabirds. In order to crack the thick shells of large seabird eggs, sometimes employs rocks as tools, a rare occurrence in the bird world. While preparing for migration, feeds on berries and insects on Yukon Delta.

Vocalization

Bristle-thighed Curlew: Call is a hurried, rather curtailed "pee-uu-ee."

Similar Species

Bristle-thighed Curlew: Whimbrel lacks cinnamon-brown patches on rump and uppertail.