Little Curlew (Numenius minutus)

[order] CHARADRIIFORMES | [family] Scolopacidae | [latin] Numenius minutus | [UK] Little Curlew | [FR] Courlis nain | [DE] Zwerg-Brachvogel | [ES] Zarapito Chico | [NL] Kleine Regenwulp

Subspecies

Physical charateristics

The Little Curlew is the smallest curlew and has a long thin neck. The small head has a short, slender bill, downcurved at the tip and pink on the underside.There is a dark crown, with a pale buff brow line over large eyes. The body is mainly warm brown, heavily marked, with a streaked buff breast and light underbody. The legs are medium length. When alarmed, they either stand tall and erect or crouch in the grass. The female is slightly larger than the male. It is also called Little Whimbrel and Pygmy or Baby Curlew.

Listen to the sound of Little Curlew

[audio:http://www.aviflevoland.nl/sounddb/L/Little Curlew.mp3]

Copyright remark: Most sounds derived from xeno-canto

Range

Eurasia : Northeast

Habitat

Breeding The species breeds in secondary vegetation growth in open burnt areas or in grassy clearings in northern montane larch Larix spp. or dwarf birch woodland, chiefly along river valleys or on well-drained southward-facing mountain slopes. Non-breeding On passage the species shows a preference for foraging and resting in swampy meadows near lakes and along river valleys. It overwinters on dry inland grassland, bare cultivation, dry mudflats and coastal plains of black soil with scattered shallow pools of freshwater, swamps, lakes or flooded ground. It shows a preference for short grass swards of less than 20 cm tall, and occasionally occurs in dry saltmarshes, coastal swamps, mudflats or sandflats in estuaries, or on the beaches of sheltered coasts.

Reproduction

The species breeds in secondary vegetation growth in open burnt areas or in grassy clearings in northern montane larch Larix spp. or dwarf birch woodland, chiefly along river valleys or on well-drained southward-facing mountain slopes. During winter on passage the species shows a preference for foraging and resting in swampy meadows near lakes and along river valleys. It overwinters on dry inland grassland, bare cultivation, dry mudflats and coastal plains of black soil with scattered shallow pools of freshwater, swamps, lakes or flooded ground. It shows a preference for short grass swards of less than 20 cm tall, and occasionally occurs in dry saltmarshes, coastal swamps, mudflats or sandflats in estuaries, or on the beaches of sheltered coasts.

Feeding habits

Its diet consists predominantly of adult and larval insects (e.g. grasshoppers, crickets, weevils, beetles, caterpillars, ants and termites) and spiders as well as vegetable matter including seeds, rice husks and berries.

Conservation

This species has a very large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be stable, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is very large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
The Little Curlew, Numenius minutus, is a wader in the large bird family Scolopacidae. It is a very small curlew, which breeds in the far north of Siberia. It is closely related to the North American Eskimo Curlew

Migration

This species is strongly migratory, travelling from mid-August to October along the coast of eastern Asia on a narrow front with few stop-overs. On its wintering grounds in Australia the species also makes erratic movements in relation to ranifall. It breeds from late-May to early-August in loose colonies1 of 3-30 pairs and migrates in flocks of up to 1,000 individuals. During the non-breeding season it occurs in dense flocks of several hundreds or thousands of individuals and gathers in large flocks to roost during the warmest part of the day and at night.

Distribution map