Numenius arquata (*) Cladus: Eukaryota Name Numenius arquata (Linnaeus, 1758) Reference Systema Naturae ed.10 p.145 Vernacular names ------- The Eurasian Curlew, Numenius arquata, is a wader in the large family Scolopacidae. It is the 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 a colloquial name is "whaup". The familiar call, from which this bird gets it name, is a loud curloo-oo. The only similar species over most of the Curlew's range is the Whimbrel (N. phaeopus). This is smaller, and has a shorter bill with a kink rather than a smooth curve. Flying birds may resemble a Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica) in winter plumage, but that species is smaller, has a slightly upturned bill, and its feet are barely longer than the tail tip; in the Eurasian Curlew the feet are longer, forming a conspicuous "point". This is a migratory species over most of its range, wintering in Africa, southern Europe and south Asia. Occasionally, a vagrant individual reaches places far away from its normal range, such as Nova Scotia[1] or the Marianas[2]. It is present all year in the milder climate of Ireland, Great Britain and the adjacent European coasts. It is generally wary. Highly gregarious outside the breeding season, the Eurasian Curlew feeds by probing soft mud for small invertebrates, but will also pick small crabs and earthworms off the surface if the opportunity arises. This is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies. Formerly classified as a species of Least Concern by the IUCN, it was suspected to be rarer than generally assumed. Following the evaluation of its population size, this was found to be incorrect, and it is consequently uplisted to Near Threatened status in 2008; though it is still a rather common bird, its numbers are noticeably declining.[3] Footnotes 1. ^ NHMNS (1998)
* BirdLife International (BLI) (2008). Numenius arquata. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 3 January 2009. Source: Wikispecies, Wikipedia: All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License |
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