Long-billed Curlew

The Long-billed Curlew is the largest shorebird in North America, instantly recognizable by its dramatically long, downcurved bill, which can exceed 15 cm in females. Breeding on shortgrass and mixed-grass prairies of the western interior, it winters along coastal mudflats, estuaries, and agricultural fields from California to Mexico. Its cinnamon-buff plumage blends well with dry grasses, and its plaintive, rising cur-lee call carries far across open country.

Body feathers are warm buffy-cinnamon overall, each feather marked with irregular dark brown bars and streaks that create a mottled, camouflaged pattern rather than crisp barring. The underwing and axillary feathers show a distinctive rich cinnamon wash, brighter than in most other curlews, useful for separating shed feathers from Whimbrel. Flight feathers (primaries and secondaries) are dark brown with buffy notching along the edges, and the shaft is pale and prominent on the underside. Tail feathers are buff with narrow dark bars. Compared to Whimbrel, Long-billed Curlew feathers lack strong head-stripe patterning and instead show an overall warmer, more uniformly buffy tone with less contrast.

Sexes look alike in color, though females are notably larger with longer bills than males. Juveniles resemble adults but have a shorter bill that lengthens with age, and slightly crisper buff fringing on the wing coverts. There is little seasonal plumage variation; the warm cinnamon coloring is present year-round. A complete molt occurs after breeding, mostly on the wintering grounds, with flight feather replacement often extending over several months.

Breeds in shortgrass and mixed-grass prairie, high desert grassland, and agricultural fields across the western United States and southern Canadian prairies. In migration and winter it shifts to coastal mudflats, tidal marshes, flooded fields, and estuaries along the Pacific coast, Gulf coast, and into Mexico and Central America. It is a medium-to-long-distance migrant, with some populations moving over 1,000 km between breeding and wintering areas.

Long-billed Curlews forage by probing deep into mud or soil with their long bill to extract burrowing invertebrates, occasionally taking items from the surface as well. On breeding grounds they also pick insects from grass. Nests are shallow scrapes on bare or sparsely vegetated ground, often lined with grass, and both parents share incubation duties, though males typically take a larger share of chick-rearing after hatching. The call is a loud, far-carrying cur-lee rising in pitch, along with a variety of whistled and bubbling display calls given during aerial courtship flights. Conservation status is IUCN Least Concern, though grassland habitat loss has reduced numbers in parts of its range.