Eurasian Curlew

Common Name: Eurasian Curlew

Latin Name: Numenius arquata

Family: Scolopacidae

The curlew is the largest wading bird found in Europe. It is a distinctive species readily identified by its large size and long, down curved bill that is used to probe soft ground for worms and other invertebrates. The female curlew normally has a longer bill than the male, but some caution is required to separate them based on this characteristic, as the difference is not always distinct.

The name is derived from the distinctive ‘curl-oo’ call that can often be heard on both the wintering and breeding grounds. It is only when they return to the breeding areas that the characteristic bubbling call can be heard as the birds perform their territorial displays.  

Upland areas of the country such as the Yorkshire Dales National Park support nationally important numbers of breeding pairs of curlew. Survey work in the early 1990s located around 2,500 pairs nesting on the moorland areas of the National Park with up to 1500 pairs found on enclosed pastures and meadows during survey work in 2000.

Large flocks of several hundred birds gather in some of the low lying areas in and around the National Park from mid-February onwards as birds prepare to return to nesting areas. After the breeding season, birds will move onto estuaries to spend the winter with a few ringing recoveries tentatively suggesting that birds bred in the Dales may well winter in southern Ireland.

Websites:

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (opens in new window)