Eurasian curlew

Latin Numenius arquata
Estonian Suurkoovitaja

Also known as: curlew, whaup

Status in Estonia

Breeding and migratory bird.

Description

The Eurasian curlew is the biggest wader. It has an unusually long and downward bent beak. Its grey-brown plumage is consistently striped and speckled, with a white back wedge and dark wing coverts. The sexes are similar.

Size

Body length 48–57 cm (incl. beak 9–15 cm), wingspan 89–106 cm, body mass 415–980 g.

Similar species

Eurasian whimbrel.

Distribution

The region extends from Ireland in the west to China in the east. There are three subspecies. Our nominate species, Numenius a. arquata, breeds throughout Western, Central and Northern Europe, from Ukraine to the Arctic Circle and from Ireland to the Ural Mountains in Siberia. It primarily winters in Western Europe, around the Mediterranean and in West Africa up to Mauritania. A minor portion of the European population spends their winters in Iceland, Norway and the Faroe Islands. It is distributed across Estonia, although its numbers are not high.

Population

Estonia has 800–1200 breeding pairs.

Occurrence in Estonia

It normally arrives in March and less often in early April. Migration starts around the end of June and lasts about four months.

Diet

It eats soft parts of plants, seeds, berries, vertebrates and their larvae.

Habitat

It is a breeding bird widespread across Estonia that likes larger open landscapes and is absent only from areas dominated by large forested areas and wider open landscapes (cultural landscape, river banks, beach meadows, etc.).

Nesting

Courtship flights begin in the spring upon arrival. The male takes off in a slanting line on fluttering wings, flies in a circle and lets out loud trills that mimic a foal’s whinny. They typically nest in solitary pairs in damp meadows and bogs. The female bird lays four olive-green brown-spotted eggs in a hollow-shaped nest with a thin lining every 1–3 days, incubating them for 26–28 days depending on the weather. The chicks hatch within 2–4 days. The female bird leaves the brood about 10 days after hatching and the male bird takes care of them. Following that, the birds move to more shaded areas, where they join smaller or bigger flocks. Chicks learn to fly around the end of June or early July.

Conservation status and protection

It belongs to the protected species of category III. The primary threats are larger falcons and small predators.

Distribution and population in Lääne County

The Eurasian curlew is an uncommon breeding and migratory bird in Lääne County. This nesting species is unfortunately declining in Lääne County. They have also been found nesting in cultivated grasslands and meadows. A few pairs also live in our bogs. Eurasian curlews that stop throughout their migration frequently eat on beach meadows.
In Matsalu, you can often see the Eurasian curlew at Haeska, Põgari and Rannajõe and on the Penijõe hiking trail. Cape Põõsaspea offers the best view of Eurasian curlew migrations in the spring and autumn.