From Opus

Photo by Gallus
Location: Kingairloch, Scottish Highlands, UK

Numenius arquata

[edit] Identification

50-57cm.

• Grey brown
• White back
• Long curved bill

[edit] Distribution

A widespread and generally common bird in the Western Palearctic. Breeds in the British Isles (except east and south-east England), discontinuously from France east to Poland, throughout coastal and lowland Scandinavia, the Baltic States and across Russia between about 48 and 64 degrees N. Southern limits are the Pyrenees, Alps and the Black Sea.

Resident in Ireland, parts of coastal Britain, Brittany, coastal Netherlands and south-west Sweden. Elsewhere a summer visitor, present April-August.

In winter found in southern Iceland, throughout the British Isles and much of western and southern Europe, Turkey and North Africa. Has bred in Spain and occasionally does so elsewhere out of main range including very small numbers in Italy.

Vagrant north to Jan Mayen, Bear Island and south to Canaries, Azores and Cape Verde Islands.

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Subspecies¹

• N. a. arquata - breeds British Isles to Ural Mts.; winters to nw Africa and India
• N. a. orientalis - breeds E Russia, Manchuria; winters to Africa, SE Asia and Indonesia

[edit] Habitat

Breeds in wet grassland and meadows, drier parts of marshes, farmland, heaths and moorland. In winter mainly coastal, on estuaries and sandy shores, saltmarshes, on coastal grasslands and to a lesser extent, on inland wetlands.

[edit] Behaviour

The diet includes small invertebrates, small crabs and earthworms.

Its nest is a bare scrape; 3-6 eggs are laid and are incubated for about a month.

[edit] Vocalisation

Call: curloo-oo.

[edit] References

1. Clements, James F. 2007. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to October 2007. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801445019
2. Wikipedia

[edit] External Links