Curlew - Definition and Overview

Curlews
Eastern Curlew
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Charadriiformes Family: Scolopacidae
Genera Numenius Bartramia

The curlews are a group of eight wader species, characterised by a long slender downcurved bill and mainly brown plumage with little seasonal change. They are related to the godwits, but the latter have straight bills.

Curlews feed on mud or very soft ground, searching for worms and other invertebrates their long bills. They will also take crabs and similar items.

The Upland Sandpiper is an odd bird which is closely related to the curlews, distinguished from them by its yellow legs, long tail and shorter, less curved bill.

Species are:

• Family: Scolopacidae (part)
  • Numenius
    • Little Curlew, Numenius minutus
    • Eskimo Curlew, Numenius borealis (probably extinct)
    • Whimbrel, Numenius phaeopus
    • Bristle-thighed Curlew, Numenius tahitiensis
    • Slender-billed Curlew, Numenius tenuirostris (critically endangered)
    • Eurasian Curlew, Numenius arquata
    • Eastern Curlew, Numenius madagascariensis
    • Long-billed Curlew, Numenius americanus
  • Bartramia
    • Upland Sandpiper, Bartramia longicauda

Note that 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 it.

For the song cycle by Peter Warlock, see The Curlew.

For the jazz group, see Curlew (group).