The Hudsonian whimbrel (''Numenius hudsonicus'') is a

wader 245px, A flock of Dunlins and Red knots">Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflat ...

in the large family

Scolopacidae Sandpipers are a large family, Scolopacidae, of waders. They include many species called sandpipers, as well as those called by names such as curlew and snipe. The majority of these species eat small invertebrates picked out of the mud or soil. ...

. It is one of the most widespread of the

curlew The curlews () are a group of nine species of birds in the genus ''Numenius'', characterised by their long, slender, downcurved bills and mottled brown plumage. The English name is imitative of the Eurasian curlew's call, but may have been in ...

s, breeding across much of subarctic North America. This species and the Eurasian whimbrel have recently been split, although some taxonomic authorities still consider them to be conspecific. The whimbrel is a migratory bird, wintering on coasts in southern North America and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

. It is also a coastal bird during

migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

. It is fairly gregarious outside the breeding season. In the mangroves of Colombia, whimbrel roost sites are located in close proximity to feeding territories and away from potential sources of mainland predators, but not away from areas of human disturbance.

Description

This is a fairly large wader, though mid-sized as a member of the curlew genus. The English name is imitative of the bird's call. The genus name ''Numenius'' is from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

''noumenios'', a bird mentioned by Hesychius. It is associated with the curlews because it appears to be derived from ''neos'', "new" and ''mene'' "moon", referring to the crescent-shaped bill. It is in length, in wingspan, and in weight. It is mainly greyish brown, with a rump pattern uniform with upperparts, and a long curved

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

(longest in the adult female) with a kink rather than a smooth curve. It is generally wary. The usual

call Call or Calls may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * Call, a type of betting in poker * Call, in the game of contract bridge, a bid, pass, double, or redouble in the bidding stage Music and dance * Call (band), from Lahore, Paki ...

is a rippling whistle, prolonged into a trill for the song. The only similar common species over most of this bird's range are larger curlews. The whimbrel is smaller, has a shorter, decurved bill and has a central crown stripe and strong supercilia.

Subspecies

There are 2 subspecies: * ''Numenius hudsonicus rufiventris'' – Vigors, 1829: found in

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

and northwestern

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

* ''Numenius hudsonicus hudsonicus'' – Latham, 1790: (Hudsonian curlew) found in Hudson Bay area to northeastern Canada

Ecology

This species feeds by probing soft mud for small

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

s and by picking small crabs and similar prey off the surface. Before migration, berries become an important part of their diet. The nest is a bare scrape on

tundra In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless mou ...

or Arctic moorland. Three to five eggs are laid. Adults are very defensive of nesting area and will even attack humans who come too close. Near the end of the 19th century, hunting on their migration routes took a heavy toll on this bird's numbers; the population has since recovered.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q50407544, from2=Q27608723 Hudsonian whimbrel Birds of Canada Birds of Hispaniola Birds of the Dominican Republic Hudsonian whimbrel Hudsonian whimbrel