Bristle-thighed Curlew

Numenius tahitiensisOrder: CHARADRIIFORMES Family: Sandpipers (Scolopacidae)

Codes: Common Name: BTCU Scientific Name: NUMTAH ITIS Taxonomic No.: 176604

Related Birds

Long-billed Curlew
Little Curlew
Whimbrel
Eurasian Curlew
Eskimo Curlew

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Overview

Bristle-thighed Curlew: Large, brown-streaked shorebird with long decurved bill. Eye-line is dark, contrasting eyebrow is white. Rump is cinnamon-brown. Bristle-like feathers at base of legs are inconspicuous. Legs and feet are blue-gray. Strong, swift direct flight with legs trailing behind tail.

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.

Topo Map: Sandpiper-like Body

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"pee-uu-ee"

Interesting Facts

The Bristle-thighed Curlew is the only shorebird to have a completely flightless period during their molt. This strategy undoubtedly evolved long ago, in response to the absence of any mammalian predators on its Pacific island wintering grounds.

Introduced cats and dogs prey heavily on flightless curlews, resulting in what is believed to be a population decline for these birds.

They were first described during James Cook's visits to Tahiti in the 18th century, but their summer nesting grounds weren't identified until 1948.

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

Bird Term Glossary

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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.

Bristle-thighed Curlew

● Song: "pee-uu-ee"

● Foraging & 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.

● Breeding & 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.

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

Flight Pattern

Strong direct flight.

Bristle-thighed Curlew Body Illustration

● Range & 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.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^PopulationRare

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight13.3 Ounces

Sandpiper-like Body

Eyebrow

Also called the supercilicum or superciliary it is the arch of feathers over each eye.

Rump

The area between the uppertail coverts and the back of the bird.

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