Northern curlew
The Eskimo curlew (Numenius borealis ), also known as northern curlew, is a species of curlew in the family Scolopacidae. It was one of the most numerous shorebirds in the tundra of western Arctic Canada and Alaska. Approximately two million birds were then killed per year in the late 1800s. As there has not been a reliable sighting since 1987 or a confirmed sighting since 1963, the Eskimo curlew is considered Critically Endangered or possibly extinct. The bird was about 30 cm (12 in) long and fed mostly on insects and berries.
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
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CongregatoryCongregatory animals tend to gather in large numbers in specific areas as breeding colonies, for feeding, or for resting.
Oviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
Precocial species are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth or hatching. Precocial species are normall...
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MigratingAnimal migration is the relatively long-distance movement of individual animals, usually on a seasonal basis. It is the most common form of migrati...
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starts withEskimo curlews are small curlews, about 30 centimeters in length, weighing approximately 360 g, and having a wingspan of 70 cm. Adults have long dark greyish legs and a long bill curved slightly downward. The upperparts are mottled brown and the underparts are light brown. They show cinnamon wing linings in flight. They are similar in appearance to the Hudsonian curlew, the American subspecies of the whimbrel, but smaller in size.
In the field, the only certain way to distinguish the Eskimo curlew is confirmation of its unbarred undersides of the primaries. The call is poorly understood, but includes clear whistling sounds.
The Eskimo curlew forms a species pair with the Asian little curlew, Numenius minutus, but is slightly larger, longer-winged, shorter legged, and warmer in plumage tone than its Asian relative.
The Eskimo curlew was a New World bird. Members of this species bred on the tundra of western arctic Canada and Alaska.
Eskimo curlews migrated to the pampas of Argentina in the late summer and returned in February. They used to be very rare vagrants to western Europe, but there have been no recent records. In Britain, there are four records, all from the nineteenth century.
A comparison of dates and migratory patterns has led some to conjecture that Eskimo curlews and American golden plover are the shorebirds that attracted the attention of Christopher Columbus to nearby land after 65 days at sea and out of sight of land on his first voyage. In the 1800s, millions of Eskimo curlews followed migration routes from the present Yukon and Northwest Territories, flying east along the northern shore of Canada, then south over the Atlantic Ocean to South America in the winter. When returning to North America, they would fly north through the Great Plains.
Eskimo curlews picked up food by sight, as well as feeding by probing. They ate mostly berries while on the fall migration in Canada. During the rest of their migration and on the breeding grounds, they ate insects. Snails and other invertebrates also were part of their diet during migration.
Nesting probably occurred in June. Nests were in open areas on the ground and are difficult to find. They were made of wisps of dried grass or leaves. The eggs were green with brown splotches.
The specific incubation behavior of this species is unknown. It is not certain which sex if not both incubated, nor what the specific timeline is. These birds evidently did not attack intruders approaching their nests, which provides reason to believe that their nests were far apart from each other.
Social animals are those animals that interact highly with other animals, usually of their own species (conspecifics), to the point of having a rec...