Curlew | |
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Long-billed curlew (Numenius americanus) Fishing Pier, Goose Island State Park, Texas | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Charadriiformes |
Family: | Scolopacidae |
Genus: | Numenius Brisson, 1760 |
Type species | |
Scolopax arquata Linnaeus, 1758 | |
Species | |
N. phaeopus | |
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". [1] In Europe, "curlew" usually refers to one species, the Eurasian curlew (Numenius arquata).
They are one of the most ancient lineages of scolopacid waders, together with the godwits which look similar but have straight bills. [2] Curlews feed on mud or very soft ground, [3] [4] searching for worms and other invertebrates with their long bills. They will also take crabs and similar items.
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. [5] [6] As of 2019 [update] , there were only a small number of Eurasian curlews still breeding in Ireland, raising concerns that the bird will become extinct in that country. [7]
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.
The genus Numenius was erected by the French scientist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in his Ornithologie published in 1760. [8] The type species is the Eurasian curlew (Numenius arquata). [9] The Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus had introduced the genus Numenius in the 6th edition of his Systema Naturae published in 1748, [10] but Linnaeus dropped the genus in the important tenth edition of 1758 and put the curlews together with the woodcocks in the genus Scolopax . [11] [12] 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. [13] 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. [14]
The genus contains nine species: [15]
The following cladogram shows the genetic relationships between the species. It is based on a study published in 2023. [18]
Numenius |
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The Late Eocene (Montmartre Formation, some 35 mya) fossil Limosa gypsorum of France was originally placed in Numenius and may in fact belong there. [19] Apart from that, a Late Pleistocene curlew from San Josecito Cave, Mexico has been described. [20] 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. [2] It is distinguished from them by its yellow legs, long tail, and shorter, less curved bill.
Orioles are colourful Old World passerine birds in the genus Oriolus, the type genus of the corvoidean family Oriolidae. They are not closely related to the New World orioles, which are icterids that belong to the superfamily Passeroidea.
Pica is a genus of seven species of birds in the family Corvidae in both the New World and the Old. It is one of several corvid genera whose members are known as magpies.
Junglefowl are the only four living species of bird from the genus Gallus in the bird order Galliformes, and occur in parts of South and Southeast Asia. One of the species in this genus, the red junglefowl, is of historical importance as the direct ancestor of the domestic chicken, although the grey junglefowl, Sri Lankan junglefowl and green junglefowl are likely to have also been involved. The Sri Lankan junglefowl is the national bird of Sri Lanka. They diverged from their common ancestor about 4–6 million years ago. Although originating in Asia, remains of junglefowl bones have also been found in regions of Chile, which date back to 1321–1407 CE, providing evidence of possible Polynesian migration through the Pacific Ocean.
The godwits are a group of four large, long-billed, long-legged and strongly migratory waders of the bird genus Limosa. Their long bills allow them to probe deeply in the sand for aquatic worms and molluscs. In their winter range, they flock together where food is plentiful. They frequent tidal shorelines, breeding in northern climates in summer and migrating south in winter. A female bar-tailed godwit made a flight of 29,000 km (18,000 mi), flying 11,680 kilometres (7,260 mi) of it without stopping. In 2020 a male bar-tailed godwit flew about 12,200 kilometres (7,600 mi) non-stop in its migration from Alaska to New Zealand, previously a record for avian non-stop flight. In October 2022, a 5 month old, male bar-tailed godwit was tracked from Alaska to Tasmania, a trip that took 11 days, and recorded a non-stop flight of 8,400 miles (13,500 km).
The green sandpiper is a small wader (shorebird) of the Old World.
The Eurasian curlew or common curlew is a very large wader in the family Scolopacidae. It is one of the most widespread of the curlews, breeding across temperate Europe and Asia. In Europe, this species is often referred to just as the "curlew", and in Scotland known as the "whaup" in Scots.
The Eurasian or common whimbrel, also known as the white-rumped whimbrel in North America, is a wader in the large family Scolopacidae. It is one of the most widespread of the curlews, breeding across much of subarctic Asia and Europe as far south as Scotland. This species and the Hudsonian whimbrel have recently been split, although some taxonomic authorities still consider them to be conspecific.
The grey plover or black-bellied plover is a large plover breeding in Arctic regions. It is a long-distance migrant, with a nearly worldwide coastal distribution when not breeding.
The marbled godwit is a large migratory shorebird in the family Scolopacidae. On average, it is the largest of the four species of godwit.
The red-necked phalarope, also known as the northern phalarope and hyperborean phalarope, is a small wader. This phalarope breeds in the Arctic regions of North America and Eurasia. It is migratory, and, unusually for a wader, winters at sea on tropical oceans.
The red phalarope or grey phalarope is a small wader. This phalarope breeds in the Arctic regions of North America and Eurasia. It is migratory, and, unusually for a wader, migrates mainly on oceanic routes, wintering at sea on tropical oceans.
The yellow-billed oxpecker is a passerine bird in the family Buphagidae. It was previously placed in the starling and myna family, Sturnidae.
The bristle-thighed curlew is a medium-sized shorebird that breeds in Alaska and winters on tropical Pacific islands.
The Far Eastern curlew is a large shorebird most similar in appearance to the long-billed curlew, but slightly larger. It is mostly brown in color, 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 (24–26 in) in length and 110 cm (43 in) across the wings. The body is reportedly 565–1,150 g (1.246–2.535 lb), which may be equaled by the Eurasian curlew. The extremely long bill, at 12.8–20.1 cm (5.0–7.9 in) in length, rivals the bill size of the closely related long-billed curlew as the longest bill for a sandpiper.
The yellow bishop, also known as Cape bishop, Cape widow or yellow-rumped widow, is a resident breeding bird species in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The Cape bulbul is a member of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is an endemic resident breeder in coastal bush, open forest, gardens and fynbos in western and southern South Africa. This species nests mainly in the southern spring from September to November. The nest is a thick-walled cup concealed by foliage in a small tree or shrub.
The plum-throated cotinga is a species of bird in the family Cotingidae. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical swamps, and heavily degraded former forest.
The Cayenne jay is a species of bird in the family Corvidae. It is found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.
The hook-billed vanga is a species of bird in the family Vangidae. It is endemic to Madagascar. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.
In the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, published in 1758, the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus described 554 species of bird and gave each a binomial name.