Now that we’re in the middle of December, all of our winter birds in northern California have arrived. It is with great pleasure that I share a bit of information and photos featuring one of my favorite over-wintering shorebirds: the long-billed curlew.
The largest shorebird in North America, Numenius americanus have a distinctive long, downward-curved bill.
They also have gorgeous plumage with touches of mauve, in the right light, and cinnamon colors. There is a flourish of geometric shapes with speckling and barring.
The curlews will stay here on the shores of Pt. Reyes and other northern California coastal habitats until spring, around April. Additionally, they winter in parts of coastal Florida, Texas, and much of Mexico. (Range map below.)
They consume a robust winter diet with the use of their exquisitely long bills, probing deep into mud and sand for aquatic invertebrates.
How long is that bill? It’s about 5-7″ long (12.7-17.78 cm).
The curlews were busy probing and it was entertaining.
Most shorebirds probe the sand but some invertebrates, buried deep, cannot be reached. But the long-billed curlew can surpass what most shorebirds cannot reach.
Several times I watched a curlew dig up a buried sand crab and then drop it. There would sometimes be a few tries before the crab was conquered.
We enjoyed a blissfully quiet beach, the fog and briny aroma, and the shorebirds. Mid-December when so much of the world seems to be in distress or chaos, we quietly strolled this beach and absorbed the peace and beauty.
Both these birds, pictured below, are winter visitors. It is heartwarming to see both species back at Pt. Reyes after all these months of absence.
The long-billed curlew is on the left, the marbled godwit on the right. They often forage together.
We heard two curlews exchange a whistled vocalization, which reminded me that the curlew is named for its sound–an onomatopoeic moniker for its vocalization: a harsh whistled cur-lee.
In spring the long-billed curlews will migrate to their native habitat of dry grassland and sagebrush prairie where they feed on insects like beetles, grasshoppers, caterpillars, spiders, toads and more.
This seems a little different to me than many birds who migrate in winter from a cold coast to a warmer one, or a frigid grassland to a warmer one. To go from a grassland in summer to a coastal habitat in winter is slightly unusual. I like their flexibility.
When the earth warms, the curlews will return to their western North America breeding grounds, mainly the Great Plains and Great Basin.
Blue=wintering grounds. Orange=breeding grounds.
Range Map courtesy allaboutbirds.org
Shorebirds, for most birders, can be tricky to identify. Many of their colors are similar–whites, tans, browns, blacks–and their markings too. Some, like gulls, have different plumage for different life phases, which is confusing. Additionally, the light on a beach can be difficult with the sun, sand and water reflections often rendering birds as mere silhouettes.
But the long-billed curlew, with that gracefully curving extension, stands out in pure glory.
Written by Jet Eliot.
Photos by Athena Alexander.
Jet Eliot 