Numenius americanus
Long-billed Curlew
The Long-billed Curlew is a large, light brown shorebird with long legs and a very long decurved bill. This is an inland-breeding bird, with only a small number of individuals nesting in extreme northeastern California. However, Long-billed Curlews winter throughout much of the state, including the Central Valley, where the species is a relatively common winter visitor and migrant. Typical winter habitat includes pastures and agricultural fields where curlews probe for invertebrates. While ricelands are not important to the overall wintering population, groups of curlews are regularly observed foraging in flooded and disked rice fields (Shuford et al. 1998).
The Long-billed Curlew is a federal species of conservation concern (USFWS 2008). It is considered highly imperiled in the U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan (Brown et al. 2001) due to population declines outside of California. Additionally, Long-billed Curlew are on the California Bird Species of Special Concern Priority 2 list due to concerns of the breeding populations.
Long-billed Curlew 1: Leslie Morris