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The Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus) has been identified as a focal species of management concern due to continuing declines of breeding populations, small overall population size, and threats to both breeding and wintering habitats across North America. Loss of grassland habitats to agriculture and development, particularly in the Great Plains of North America and eastern portion of the Long-billed Curlew's breeding range, appears to be the greatest threat to the long-term survival of this species. Loss and degradation of wetland habitats and grasslands on wintering grounds is also a concern. Pesticides and other toxins, and disturbance due to off-road vehicles and recreational use of breeding habitats may also influence Long-billed Curlew populations.
Date: September 2006
Sources: Dugger, B.D. and K.M. Dugger. 2002. Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus. In The Birds of North America, No. 628 (A. Poole and F. Gill, Eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
National Audubon Society. 2002. Audubon WatchList: Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus). Downloaded from (http://www.audubon.org) on 9/6/2006.
Brown, S., C. Hickey, B. Gill, L. Gorman, C. Gratto-Trevor, S. Haig, B. Harrington, C. Hunter, G. Morrison, G. Page, P. Sanzenbacher, S. Skagen, N. Warnock. 2000. National Shorebird Conservation Assessment: Shorebird Conservation Status, Conservation Units, Population Estimates, Population Targets, and Species Prioritization. Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences.
Species Profile from NatureServe
Long-billed Curlew Numenius americanus
Description:Shorebird
Life History:
Reproduction Comments: 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).
Mobility and Migration Comments: 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).
Food 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.
Habitat 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).
Distribution:
United States: AL, AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, IA extirpated, ID, IL extirpated, KS, LA, MN extirpated, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NM, NN, NV, OK, OR, SC, SD, TX, UT, WA, WI extirpated, WY
Canada: AB, BC, MB extirpated, SK
Status:
NatureServe Status:
Global Status: G5,
Global Status Last Reviewed: 25Nov1996,
Global Status Last Changed: 25Nov1996,
Rounded Global Status: G5 - Secure
