Eurasian Curlew Identification
Its scientific name is 'Numenius arquata', from the family Scolopacidae (order Charadriiformes)
What I look like
The Eurasian Curlew is the largest wader.
Its bill is very long and curved.
It is longer in females.
The plumage is brown streaked and regularly spotted with dark.
In flight, it shows a pointed white dorsal mark and a dark lateral edge on the upper wings.
During molt, in autumn, a slight pale band appears on the wings.
Juveniles have a shorter bill and the sides of the chest are less marked, with the plumage being more buff.
My songs, my calls
The Eurasian Curlew has a typical flight or alarm contact call that sounds like a rising, melancholic, fluted whistle. "kou-(r)-li", bisyllabic.
During migration, it produces rather sharp and repeated "kuui-kui kuh". Here, we hear a group of females starting their migration.
Its song consists of rhythmic liquid trills and repeated high-pitched sounds "trrui". It often begins with a "coui" followed by trills then "trui".
How I behave
The Eurasian Curlew is often in groups during migration or to form night roosts.
It is wary, fears humans, and easily takes flight to escape.
With its arched triangular wings, it has a slow flight with beats and some glides, resembling that of a gull. Its legs slightly extend beyond the tail.
How I reproduce
The Eurasian Curlew is quite elusive at nesting sites.
Pairs are territorial and keep their distance from each other.
To protect its territory, it can chase threatening raptors in flight.
During the courtship flight, the male shows a rapid and steep ascending phase with vigorous wingbeats and slowly descends gliding while singing.
On the ground, the male follows the evasive female. This can last for days until the female accepts to mate.
Its nest is placed in the grass, often slightly elevated, to protect from flooding and to keep a clear view.
What I eat
The Eurasian Curlew captures its prey by probing the wet and muddy ground with its curved bill equipped with sensory cells.
It feeds on mollusks, insects, worms…
The diet changes depending on bill size. Females search for deeply buried mollusks…
While males target more surface prey, such as crabs.
Where to find me
The Eurasian Curlew lives in large coastal meadows or inland, but also in the marshes and bogs of the Taiga.
It can be sedentary on the Irish, Belgian, and UK coasts…
or migratory, moving northward across much of Europe in summer and wintering around the Mediterranean basin and the western European coasts.
It can live up to about thirty-two years.