Far Eastern Curlew

Overview

Far Eastern Curlew: Largest curlew, very long, decurved bill, longest of any shorebird. Dark brown with heavily streaked underparts. Blue-gray legs, feet. Eats crustaceans, marine worms, insects, larvae, invertebrates. Strong steady flight, rapid wing beats. Flies in straight line or V formation.

Range and Habitat

Far Eastern Curlew: Very rarely wanders to the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands of Alaska in spring.

INTERESTING FACTS

The Eastern Curlew is also known as the Far Eastern Curlew, the Australian Curlew, the Sea Curlew and just plain Curlew. It is the largest migratory wading bird in the world.
During courtship the males attract females through their calls and their dances. The males flutter their wings, leaping up to 10-15 metres off the ground and trilling as they do.
Named "Numenius madagascariensis" by Linnaeus in 1766, it appears that the famous biologist mistakenly confused Madigascar with Macassar. The more appropriate name would be Numenius macassariensis.
A group of curlews has many collective nouns, including a "curfew", "game", "head", "salon", and "skein" of curlews.

The Far Eastern Curlew is a freshwater bird species that is evaluated currently as Least Concern. This bird species is known to primarily breed in eastern portions of Russia. Visits to portions of Asia have been noted. The range of this bird is around 10 million square kilometers. There are possible future threats regarding habitat loss as well as hunting and even food loss as a result of pollution. While there appear to have been some population declines since the mid-20th century, at this time this bird species is not approaching immediate danger.