Curlew

For other uses, see Curlew (disambiguation).

For other uses of "Numenius", see Numenius.

Curlew
Long-billed curlew (Numenius americanus) Fishing Pier, Goose Island State Park, Texas
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Charadriiformes
Family:	Scolopacidae
Genus:	Numenius Brisson, 1760
Type species
Scolopax arquata Linnaeus, 1758
Species
N. phaeopus N. hudsonicus †N. tenuirostris N. arquata N. americanus N. madagascariensis N. minutus †(?)N. borealis N. tahitiensis
Synonyms
Palnumenius Miller, 1942

The curlews (/ˈkɜːrljuː/) are a group of nine species of birds in the genus Numenius, characterised by their long, slender, downcurved bills and mottled brown plumage. The English name is imitative of the Eurasian curlew's call, but may have been influenced by the Old French corliu, "messenger", from courir, "to run". It was first recorded in 1377 in Langland's Piers Plowman "Fissch to lyue in þe flode..Þe corlue by kynde of þe eyre". In Europe, "curlew" usually refers to one species, the Eurasian curlew (Numenius arquata).

Taxonomy

The genus Numenius was erected by the French scientist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in his Ornithologie published in 1760. The type species is the Eurasian curlew (Numenius arquata). The Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus had introduced the genus Numenius in the 6th edition of his Systema Naturae published in 1748, but Linnaeus dropped the genus in the important tenth edition of 1758 and put the curlews together with the woodcocks in the genus Scolopax. As the publication date of Linnaeus's sixth edition was before the 1758 starting point of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, Brisson and not Linnaeus is considered as the authority for the genus. The name Numenius is from Ancient Greek noumenios, a bird mentioned by Hesychius. It is associated with the curlews because it appears to be derived from neos, "new" and mene, "moon", referring to the crescent-shaped bill. The genus now contains nine species:

The following cladogram showing the genetic relationships between the species is based on a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2023.

Numenius	Little curlew (N. minutus) Bristle-thighed curlew (N. tahitiensis) Eurasian whimbrel (N. phaeopus) Hudsonian whimbrel (N. hudsonicus) Long-billed curlew (N. americanus) Eskimo curlew (N. borealis) Far Eastern curlew (N. madagascariensis) Eurasian curlew (N. arquata) Slender-billed curlew (N. tenuirostris)

Description

They are one of the most ancient lineages of scolopacid waders, together with the godwits which look similar but have straight bills. Curlews feed on mud or very soft ground, searching for worms and other invertebrates with their long bills. They will also take crabs and similar items.

Distribution

The Eurasian curlew pictured in the coat of arms of Oulunsalo, a former municipality of North Ostrobothnia, Finland

Curlews enjoy a worldwide distribution. Most species exhibit strong migratory habits and consequently one or more species can be encountered at different times of the year in Europe, Ireland, Britain, Iberia, Iceland, Africa, Southeast Asia, Siberia, North America, South America and Australasia.

The distribution of curlews has altered considerably in the past hundred years as a result of changing agricultural practices. For instance, Eurasian curlew populations have suffered due to draining of marshes for farmland, whereas long-billed curlews have shown an increase in breeding densities around areas grazed by livestock. As of 2019, there were only a small number of Eurasian curlews still breeding in Ireland, raising concerns that the bird will become extinct in that country.

The stone-curlews are not true curlews (family Scolopacidae) but members of the family Burhinidae, which is in the same order Charadriiformes, but only distantly related within that.

Genus Numenius – Brisson, 1760 – nine species

Common name	Scientific name and subspecies	Range	Size and ecology	IUCN status and estimated population
Eurasian whimbrel	Numenius phaeopus (Linnaeus, 1758) Five subspecies N. p. islandicus Brehm, C.L., 1831 N. p. phaeopus (Linnaeus, 1758l) N. p. alboaxillaris Lowe, 1921 N. p. rogachevae Tomkovich, 2008 N. p. variegatus (Scopoli, 1786)	subarctic Asia and Europe as far south as Scotland Error creating thumbnail:	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Hudsonian whimbrel File:Numenius hudsonicus Zarapito trinador Hudsonian Whimbrel (15366704908).jpg	Numenius hudsonicus Latham, 1790 Two subspecies Numenius hudsonicus rufiventris – Vigors, 1829 Numenius hudsonicus hudsonicus – Latham, 1790	southern North America and South America. It Map of range	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Slender-billed curlew † (Last seen in 1995)	Numenius tenuirostris Vieillot, 1817	Russia, Persian gulf, in Kuwait and Iraq. Map of range	Size: Habitat: Diet:	EX
Eurasian curlew File:Eurasian Curlew.jpg	Numenius arquata (Linnaeus, 1758) Three subspecies N. a. arquata, (Linnaeus, 1758) N. a. orientalis, Brehm – 1831 N. a. suschkini, Neumann, 1929	temperate Europe and Asia Map of range	Size: Habitat: Diet:	NT
Long-billed curlew File:CURLEW, LONG-BILLED (3-22-10) morro bay, ca -04 (4455146301).jpg	Numenius americanus Bechstein, 1812	central and western North America Map of range	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Far Eastern curlew File:Numenius madagascariensis 1 - Stockton Sandspit.jpg	Numenius madagascariensis (Linnaeus, 1766)	northeastern Asia, including Siberia to Kamchatka, and Mongolia. coastal Australia, with a few heading to South Korea, Thailand, Philippines and New Zealand	Size: Habitat: Diet:	EN
Little curlew File:Numenius minutus 1.jpg	Numenius minutus Gould, 1841	Australasia, far north of Siberia.	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Bristle-thighed curlew File:Bristle-thighed Curlew.jpg	Numenius tahitiensis (Gmelin, JF, 1789)	tropical Oceania, and includes Micronesia, Fiji, Tuvalu, Tonga, Hawaiian Islands, Samoa, French Polynesia and Tongareva, lower Yukon River and Seward Peninsula Map of range	Size: Habitat: Diet:	NT
Eskimo curlew – †? (Last seen in 1987)	Numenius borealis (Forster, 1772)	western Arctic Canada and Alaska, Pampas of Argentina Map of range	Size: Habitat: Diet:	CR

The Late Eocene (Montmartre Formation, some 35 mya) fossil Limosa gypsorum of France was originally placed in Numenius and may in fact belong there. Apart from that, a Late Pleistocene curlew from San Josecito Cave, Mexico has been described. This fossil was initially placed in a distinct genus, Palnumenius, but was actually a chronospecies or paleosubspecies related to the long-billed curlew.

The upland sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda) is an odd bird which is the closest relative of the curlews. It is distinguished from them by its yellow legs, long tail, and shorter, less curved bill.

Further reading

• (originally published in 1954)