Birds of the World

    CHARADRIIFORMES: Scolopacidae (Sandpipers, Snipes)  
Genus: Numenius (9 species)


Long-billed Curlew
Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus)
Range: NA: inland grassland of temperate wc North America: s British Columbia e to sw Saskatchewan (sw, sc Canada) and s to ne California, ne New Mexico and nw Nebraska (sw, wc USA)
Goose Island State Park, Texas, USA  
   
Photograph by Alan D. Wilson     Copyright and usage info


Eurasian Curlew
Eurasian Curlew (Numenius arquata arquata) Near Threatened
Range: PAL: subarctic and temperate Palearctic wetlands, meadows: Faroe Is., British Is., Scandinavia s to s France, e through n Kazakhstan and (locally) n Mongolia to Transbaikalia (ne Russia), Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang (ne China)
Germany  
 
Photograph by Andreas Trepte     Copyright and usage info


No Image
Eskimo Curlew (Numenius borealis) Critically Endangered
Range: NA: low Arctic tundra of nw North America: n NWT (nw Canada; possibly also n Alaska; probably extinct)
   


Possibly extinct.

Hudsonian Whimbrel
Hudsonian Whimbrel (Numenius hudsonicus)
Range: NA: low Arctic coastal and inland tundra of Alaska and Canada: w, n, c Alaska, far w, nw Canada and sw shore of Hudson Bay
Paracas, Peru  
   
Photograph by Tom Friedel   © All Rights Reserved.

Northern migrant.

Far Eastern Curlew
Far Eastern Curlew (Numenius madagascariensis) Endangered
Range: PAL: inland wetlands of subarctic to temperate ne Palearctic: ec Siberia to Kamchatka and Ussuriland (se Russia) and Heilongjiang (ne China)
 
 
Photograph by Hiyashi Haka (Kevin Lin)     Copyright and usage info

Mostly brown in color, and differentiated from other curlews by its plain, unpatterned brown underwing. It is not only the largest curlew but probably the world's largest sandpiper, at 60-66 cm. in length (Wikipedia). Note very long bill.

Little Curlew
Little Curlew (Numenius minutus)
Range: PAL: patchily in subarctic taiga of wc to ec Siberia
 
 
Photograph by Hiyashi Haka (Kevin Lin)     Copyright and usage info


Eurasian Whimbrel
Eurasian Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)
Range: PAL: patchily in subarctic tundra of Palearctic: ne Greenland and n Scotland through subarctic Russia to Chukotskiy Pen. (ne Russia)
 
 
Photograph by Andreas Trepte     Copyright and usage info


Bristle-thighed Curlew
Bristle-thighed Curlew (Numenius tahitiensis) Near Threatened
Range: NA: low Arctic upland tundra of w Alaska: nc Seward Pen. and n Yukon Delta
Mauna Lani Golf Course, Hawaii,  
   
Photograph by Matt Grube   © All Rights Reserved.

Migrates from Alaska to islands in the Pacific including Hawaii. Note short bristly feathers at top of legs. Similar to Hudsonian Whimbrel, but perhaps a bit browner.

No Image
Slender-billed Curlew (Numenius tenuirostris) Critically Endangered
Range: PAL: sw Siberia (perhaps extinct)
 




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