Eurasian Curlew

Identification

The largest wader in Europe: a long-legged, long-billed bird standing 50–60 cm tall. Its plumage is a quiet patchwork of grey-brown streaks and buff notches that disappears against mud and dead grass, but two features give it away. The bill is long and evenly down-curved, and it is noticeably longer in females than in males. In flight, a bold white rump and lower back flash above the dark tail. Head-on, look for the pale eye-ring and the dark streaks running along the crown and nape. On the ground it strides slowly and deliberately rather than teetering like the smaller waders.

Curlews feed by pushing that bill deep into soft mud and sand, using sensitive nerve endings at the tip to locate worms, crabs and molluscs without ever seeing them; prey is swallowed whole or dragged up and shaken apart. Outside the breeding season they gather in loose flocks on estuaries and coastal flats, roosting in tight groups on the last unflooded spits at high tide. Breeding birds hold territory on moorland and wet pasture, scraping a nest into the grass, and the male's display flight carries a rising, bubbling song that gave the species its English name.

The easiest time to see one is winter, at high tide on an estuary, when birds are pushed up onto saltmarsh edges and the fields just behind the sea wall. In spring, dawn or dusk on upland moorland is the moment for the song flight, though you will usually hear the 'cur-lee' call long before the bird itself appears. On open mud they often stand still for long stretches, so a telescope saves a lot of walking.

Feeding and the special bill

The bill is a precision instrument. It is long, evenly down-curved, and packed near the tip with touch receptors, so a feeding Curlew can locate worms, crabs and molluscs buried deep in soft mud without ever seeing them. The bird probes repeatedly, then either swallows the prey whole or drags it up and shakes it apart on the surface.

Bill length differs between the sexes, and the difference is not decoration. Females have noticeably longer bills and can reach prey at depths that males cannot, which is one reason the two sexes can feed side by side on the same mudflat without competing directly. In the hand, sexing curlews is largely a matter of measuring that bill.

Voice and display

The name is onomatopoeic. The call is a ringing cur-lee, often with a bubbling, rising quality as the bird becomes excited, and it carries far across an estuary at dusk. An alarm version is sharper and repeated, the standard reaction to a person or a raptor approaching a nesting area.

In spring the display flight is the thing to listen for: the male rises over the moorland on quivering wings and pours out a long, rippling, bubbling song that seems to float down before the bird does. Birds often call at night, and on a still spring evening a curlew chorus can be heard long after the last light has gone.

Confusion risks

The only European wader likely to be confused with a Curlew is the Whimbrel, which is smaller, has a much shorter bill with a distinct downward kink, and shows a strong dark crown stripe with a pale central line. Whimbrel calls are a rapid, rippling series of notes rather than the drawn-out cur-lee.

On the ground, the key marks for a Curlew are the evenly curved bill without a kink, the plain head pattern apart from fine streaks, the pale eye-ring, and the long legs that give the bird its upright, deliberate stride. In flight the bold white rump and lower back above the dark tail is the quickest confirmation.

Where and when to look

Winter is the easiest time. Estuaries and coastal flats hold loose flocks that feed on exposed mud at low tide and crowd onto the last unflooded spits and saltmarsh edges as the water rises, so a rising tide pushes birds within range of a sea wall or a hide. Upland moorland and wet pasture are the summer habitat, where birds are widely spaced and often heard before they are seen.

Timing a visit around the tide is the single most useful piece of planning. Arrive two hours before high water, watch the feeding flocks on the mud as they are pushed in, then stay for the roost. On open mud, birds often stand still for long periods, so a telescope saves a great deal of walking.

Conservation and watching notes

The Eurasian Curlew is generally regarded as a species in decline, and the IUCN Red List treats it as Near Threatened. The pressures usually cited are the drainage and improvement of wet grassland, the loss of moorland to forestry and overgrazing, and high rates of nest predation where predator numbers are high - all of which reduce the number of chicks that fledge.

For a watcher, the practical contribution is careful behaviour around breeding areas. Do not walk into likely nesting habitat in spring, keep dogs on a lead on moorland from March to July, and log your records with the relevant local recording scheme; distribution data is one of the things conservation assessments are built from.