Numenius americanus

The Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus) has an extremely long, down-curved bill and is the largest North American shorebird, although it is often seen far from the coast. Long-billed Curlews breed on the North American grasslands of the arid west and are seen also on coastal mudflats only in the winter and during their annual migrations. Long-billed Curlews winter mainly along the west coast of the United States and from the extreme southern United States south to southern Mexico and irregularly through northern Central America to Honduras and Costa Rica. On grasslands, they feed mainly on insects and other small animals and in coastal areas on marine invertebrates such as crabs, mollusks, and worms. The nest consists of a shallow scrape on the ground, usually sparsely lined with grass and other plants, in open prairie. Long-billed Curlews are short-distance migrants, wintering mainly in the southern United States and northern Mexico. In the mid-1800s, this species was more common and widespread, occurring as a common migrant along the Atlantic coast, but hunting caused serious declines in the late 1800s and, more recently, populations have suffered from the conversion of grasslands to agriculture. (Kaufman 1996; AOU 1998)

Gulf of Mexico

This species was once an abundant breeder over most of the prairie regions of the USA and Canada. Populations have declined throughout this range since the beginning of the 20th century as a result of over-hunting and habitat loss (owing to fragmentation, conversion to croplands, and urban development). It is now extirpated as a breeding bird in Kansas, Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, eastern Nebraska, Illinois, Manitoba and south-east Saskatchewan. It migrates to winter in the southern USA and Mexico, with birds occurring irregularly in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Costa Rica (AOU 1998, Hill 1998).

occurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations

Canada

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Breeding

United States

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

Global Range: (>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)) BREEDING: southern British Columbia, southern Alberta, southern Saskatchewan, southern Manitoba south to eastern Washington, northeastern California, Nevada, Utah, southern Colorado, New Mexico, and northern Texas east to southwestern Kansas. Probably extirpated in southern Manitoba and southeastern Saskatchewan (De Smet 1992). NON-BREEDING: central California, southern Arizona (rarely), extreme northern Mexico, southern Texas, southern Louisiana, coastal South Carolina south to southern Mexico (Oaxaca, Veracruz, Yucatan Peninsula) and northern Gulf Coast east to Florida, irregularly to Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Venezuela. See De Smet (1992) for further details.

Length: 58 cm

Weight: 642 grams

Habitat and Ecology

Systems

• Terrestrial
• Freshwater
• Marine

Depth range based on 2 specimens in 1 taxon.
Water temperature and chemistry ranges based on 2 samples.

Environmental ranges
  Depth range (m): 0 - 0
  Temperature range (°C): 13.008 - 16.316
  Nitrate (umol/L): 0.240 - 3.533
  Salinity (PPS): 33.176 - 33.496
  Oxygen (ml/l): 5.685 - 6.169
  Phosphate (umol/l): 0.330 - 0.659
  Silicate (umol/l): 1.436 - 6.162

Graphical representation

Temperature range (°C): 13.008 - 16.316

Nitrate (umol/L): 0.240 - 3.533

Salinity (PPS): 33.176 - 33.496

Oxygen (ml/l): 5.685 - 6.169

Phosphate (umol/l): 0.330 - 0.659

Silicate (umol/l): 1.436 - 6.162
 
Note: this information has not been validated. Check this *note*. Your feedback is most welcome.

Comments: BREEDING: Prairies and grassy meadows, generally near water (AOU 1983). Nests in dry prairies and moist meadows. Nests on ground usually in flat area with short grass, sometimes on more irregular terrain, often near rock or other conspicuous object. In Wyoming, often nests near manure pile if available (Cochran and Anderson 1987). In northern Utah, nests tended to be in small patches of short vegetation near barren ground (Paton and Dalton 1994). See De Smet (1992) and Pampush and Anthony (1993) for further details. NON-BREEDING: in migration and winter occurring also on beaches and mudflats (AOU 1983).

Non-Migrant: No. All populations of this species make significant seasonal migrations.

Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make local extended movements (generally less than 200 km) at particular times of the year (e.g., to breeding or wintering grounds, to hibernation sites).

Locally Migrant: Yes. At least some populations of this species make annual migrations of over 200 km.

Migrates northward from wintering grounds March-April.

Arrives in Oregon and Washington March-April; most depart from breeding areas in Washington by end of July (Allen 1980). Arrives in northern Utah in late March, departs generally by mid-August (Paton and Dalton 1994).

Most depart northern part of breeding range by early August. Arrives in northernmost breeding areas mostly in April (De Smet 1992).

Comments: Fairly opportunistic. Feeds on various insects (grasshoppers, beetles, caterpillars, etc.). Eats some berries. During migration also feeds on crayfishes, crabs, snails, and toads. Grasshoppers and carabid beetles are dominant in the chick diet in Idaho (Redmond and Jenni 1985). May obtain insect larvae by probing into loose soil (Allen 1980). Predation on nestling birds has been observed. Picks food from ground or water, probes with bill in sand or mud in or near shallow water, plucks berries.

Numenius americanus (long-billed curlew) is prey of:
Buteo regalis

Based on studies in:
USA: California, Cabrillo Point (Grassland)

This list may not be complete but is based on published studies.

10,000 - 100,000 individuals

Comments: Total population estimated to be 20,000 (Morrison et al. 2001).

Comments: On breeding grounds, activity may begin about a half hour before dawn, ends at dark as birds arrive at roost site (Allen 1980).

Egg laying begins in April in Washington, by early May in Saskatchewan. Clutch size is 3-5 (usually 4); eggs are laid over 4-7 days. Incubation lasts 28-30 days, by both sexes (Redmond and Jenni 1986). Nestlings are precocial. Young are tended by both parents, brooded at night for several days after hatching. Females usually depart when young are 2-3 weeks old; males tend young until fledging at 41-45 days. Age of first breeding probably is 2-3 years for females, 3-4 years for males. One brood per year. Does not renest if clutch is lost. Fledging success is greater for early nesters (Redmond and Jenni 1986). Annual productivity is low. See Allen (1980) for details on nesting and brooding behavior. Often nests in loose colonies. Reported breeding density up to one pair per 24 ha; sometimes only one pair per several hundred ha. Breeding density was about 5-7 males per 100 ha in Idaho (Redmond and Jenni 1986), 1 pair per 6-7 sq km in Saskatchewan, up to 15 territories in 10.4 sq km in Washington (Allen 1980), 0-9 nests per ha in Oregon (Pampush and Anthony 1993), 0.64-2.36 males per sq km in northern Utah (Paton and Dalton 1994). In Oregon, nest success was 0.65-0.69 (Pampush and Anthony 1993). In Utah, 2 of 10 monitored nests were successful (Paton and Dalton 1994).

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 3
Specimens with Barcodes: 4
Species With Barcodes: 1

The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.

There are 2 barcode sequences available from BOLD and GenBank.  Below is a sequence of the barcode region Cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI or COX1) from a member of the species.  See the BOLD taxonomy browser for more complete information about this specimen and other sequences.

Download FASTA File

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: N3B - Vulnerable

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: N5B,N5N : N5B: Secure - Breeding, N5N: Secure - Nonbreeding

Year Assessed

Assessor/s

Reviewer/s

Contributor/s

Justification

History

• 2008
  Least Concern
• 2006
  Near Threatened
• 2004
  Near Threatened

Rounded Global Status Rank: G5 - Secure

Population

Population Trend

Major Threats

Comments: Extirpated from eastern U.S. prairie by cultivation of grassland. Fall populations along the Atlantic coast (New Brunswick to South Carolina) were decimated by hunting. Organochlorines may be negatively impacting populations (Blus et al. 1985).

Conservation Actions

Management Requirements: In Wyoming, reduced productivity was associated with grazing and dragging (to break up cow manure) during nesting, field fertilization, and early season grazing (Cochran and Anderson 1987).

Human visitations to nests with eggs may increase probability of egg loss to predators; see Allen (1980) for discussion of responses to human disturbance.

Management Research Needs: More information is needed on the impact of mammalian predators (Paton and Dalton 1994).