Far Eastern Curlew

Numenius madagascariensis

Family: Sandpipers and Allies · Status: Vagrant · Size: 60–66 cm · Conservation: Endangered

Range

Breeds in eastern and southeastern Siberia and northeastern China. Migrates through eastern China, Japan, and the Philippines to winter mainly in Australia.

Identification

Very large wader with an enormous, strongly decurved bill. Shows plain head with indistinct eyestripe and indistinct dark streaks on crown, warm buff-brown neck, breast, and flanks with thin dark streaks. Upperparts dark with broad dark centres and buff edges. Eurasian Curlew is similar but has paler underparts and shows a white rump and pale unmarked underwings in flight; Far Eastern Curlew shows a dark rump and densely barred underwings. Eurasian Whimbrel has a distinct dark crown stripe and eyestripe, and a much shorter bill.

Habitat

Intertidal mudflats and sandflats.

Behaviour

Associates with other curlew species, including Eurasian Curlew and Eurasian Whimbrel.