Eskimo Curlew

The Eskimo Curlew, a shorebird native to the extreme northern regions of North America, migrates to the southernmost parts of South America for the winter. It is one of nine species in the genus Numenius and is currently the most endangered¹, with strong suspicions that it may already be extinct.

The Eskimo Curlew resembles other curlews in appearance, with mottled, linen-like brown plumage and a long, down-curved bill. Compared to other curlews, the Eskimo Curlew is smaller (about 30 cm in length, whereas the Whimbrel, another North American curlew, is about 37-47 cm long), has darker legs and feet, a slightly shorter bill, and smooth, unstriped feathers on the underside of the primary wing feathers².

The Eskimo Curlew is a long-distance migratory bird, with a migration route spanning from the northernmost to the southernmost parts of the Americas. In the fall, they depart from the tundra in the Northwest Territories of Canada and Alaska, migrate eastward to Newfoundland, and then follow the North American east coast to South America, primarily wintering in the pampas of Argentina. In the spring, they cross the Gulf of Mexico and traverse the Great Plains to return to their breeding grounds in the far north³. During migration, the Eskimo Curlew feeds mainly on insects and other invertebrates found along shorelines and fields, as well as berries and other plant matter.

Before the mid-19th century, the Eskimo Curlew population was estimated to be over a million⁴. However, over the following decades, extensive hunting by humans led to a dramatic population decline, pushing the species towards extinction⁵. The bird’s restricted habitat and the limited stopover sites along its extensive migration route, which have been lost, fragmented, and degraded due to agricultural development, exacerbated this decline⁶. By the early 20th century, the Eskimo Curlew had become extremely rare, with the last confirmed records dating from the 1960s. In April 1962, a confirmed photograph of an Eskimo Curlew was taken near Galveston, Texas, close to the Gulf of Mexico. In 1963, a solitary bird was shot near Foster’s Swamp in Barbados⁷. Since then, there have been several seemingly credible but unverified sightings. One of the more exciting reports was on May 7, 1981, when as many as 23 Eskimo Curlews were sighted near Galveston, Texas⁸. Sightings continued until 2006, but none have been confirmed, and they have faced corresponding skepticism⁹.

Accounts #

• Lucien M. Turner (1848–1909), an American ethnologist and naturalist, observed a flock of Eskimo Curlews migrating near Ungava Bay, Labrador Peninsula, Quebec, Canada, in September 1884. His account is as follows:

  I saw none until the morning of the 4th of September, 1884, as we were passing out from the mouth of the Koksoak River. Here an immense flock of several hundred individuals were making their way to the south. They flew in that peculiar manner which distinguishes the curlews from all other birds in flight, a sort of wedge shape, the sides of which were constantly swaying back and forth like a cloud of smoke wafted by the lightest zepher. The aerial evolutions of the curlews when migrating are, perhaps, one of the most wonderful in the flight of birds. Long, dangling lines, either perpendicular or horizontal, the lower parts of which whirl, rise, or twist spirally, while the apex of the flock is seemingly at rest. At other times the leader plunges downward successively followed by the remainder in most graceful undulations, becoming a dense mass then separating into a thin sheet spread wide; again reforming into such a variety of positions that no description would sufiice.¹⁰

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