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PLATE 42: WHIMBREL AND CURLEWS
Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus PM, WV
L: 41. W: 83. Smaller and slightly darker than Eurasian Curlew with faster wingbeats. Bill usually
shorter and more decurved near the tip (though overlaps with young Eurasian Curlew in length)
and head shows dark crown with pale central stripe and dark eye-stripe. Similar in flight to
Eurasian Curlew; body and upperwing usually appearing darker than in Curlew. Voice Flight call
characteristic, fast series of whistled notes, a tooted bi-bi-bi-bi-bi-bi, quite unlike the soft rising
whistle of Eurasian Curlew. Habitat Estuaries, sandy beaches, rocky shores, coral reefs, grasslands.
Note Passage hatched, rare inland; winters Iranian and Arabian coasts, where some also summer.Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquata PM, WV
L: 55. W: 90. Large, streaked, brownish wader with long, decurved bill. Male smaller than female,
with shorter bill, which in young male overlaps with Whimbrel, but is more evenly decurved. Flight
with rather slow, gull-like wingbeats, showing barred tail and white wedge on rump and lower
back (similar to Whimbrel), but feet project, unlike in Whimbrel. Otherwise told from Whimbrel by
size, usually longer bill, uniform head pattern and flight call. The subspecies orientalis, the most
frequent in Arabia, has white underwing and much longer bill – not to be confused with Far Eastern
Curlew, which has brownish underparts and rump and much darker underwing. Voice Flight call is
a drawn-out, melodic, slowly rising whistle, easily imitated, cour-leee. Habitat Tidal mudflats and
sands, rocky shores, coral reefs; also inland on muddy or grassy wetland margins. Note Passage and
winter hatched; some summer in Arabia.Slender-billed Curlew Numenius tenuirostris V
L: 39. W: 84. Much smaller and slimmer than Eurasian Curlew (smaller even than Whimbrel) with
slim neck – never showing the ‘camel-shaped’ neck of Eurasian Curlew. Shorter, finer, all-dark
bill tapering to a thin tip (may show slightly paler base to lower mandible). Plumage ‘cleaner’ with
slightly greyer upperparts and whiter, more contrasting breast and underparts, showing black,
rounded spots on flanks and sides of belly in adult (brown streaks in juvenile); usually has darker
crown (slightly capped appearance) and lores, and paler supercilium than Eurasian Curlew. In flight,
dark outer primaries and primary coverts contrast more with paler inner wing than in Whimbrel
and most Eurasian Curlews, but underwing pure white (darker in Whimbrel and many Eurasian
Curlews except paler, eastern orientalis). Often adopts an upright stance and moves more rapidly
on ground than Eurasian Curlew or Whimbrel. Voice Flight call most similar to Eurasian Curlew but
shorter and higher pitched, lacking the liquid quality, a single cour-ee. Habitat Steppe and semi-
desert fringes of freshwater wetlands. Note Former vagrant Oman, Yemen, possibly Saudi Arabia;
may now be extinct.Far Eastern Curlew Numenius madagascariensis V
L: 63. Resembles Eurasian Curlew, but separated in flight by all-brown upperparts (thus lacking
white wedge up lower back); underwing and axillaries completely barred brownish forming
dark underwing (almost white underwing-coverts in Eurasian Curlew). Plumage generally darker,
browner than Eurasian Curlew, with dark buff head, neck and all underparts (though slightly
paler rear belly in winter); very long bill (but overlaps in length with that of orientalis Eurasian
Curlew). Voice Flight call similar to Eurasian Curlew, but less fluty krr-iii, more clearly disyllabic,
with first note rather harsh and second note longer; higher pitched and lacking rising inflection.
Habitat Marshes, sea coasts, mudflats. Note Vagrant Iran, Oman. [Alt: Eastern Curlew]