Curlew Sandpiper Identification

A medium-sized shorebird with a long, downcurved bill and long, black legs. Breeding adult ranges from brick-red to chestnut on the face, neck, breast, and belly, with a white vent and undertail coverts, and spangled rufous, black, and white upperparts. In fresh breeding plumage, underparts can have a scalloped look due to fresh white feather tips.

Nonbreeding adult has gray upperparts, white underparts with some gray streaking across the breast, and a prominent white eyeline bordered by a gray cap.

A medium-sized shorebird with a long, downcurved bill and long wings that give an overall “stretched out” look. Juvenile has scaly brown upperparts, a prominent white line above the eye, and mostly white underparts with limited streaking on the breast.

Juvenile has scaly upperparts (due to white edges on dark feathers), a buffy wash and fine streaking on the side of the breast, a dark line running from the base of the bill to the eye, a white line above the eye, and a dark cap.

In flight in all plumages, note the white rump, gray tail, and white wing stripe.

Nests on arctic tundra, where the female typically incubates four eggs in a shallow depression on dry ground.

Molting birds in late summer are a patchwork of breeding and nonbreeding plumages.

Frequently occurs on tidal mudflats during migration and the nonbreeding season.

Often occurs in large flocks during migration and on nonbreeding grounds. Uses its long bill to probe for prey on tidal mudflats, salt pans, sandy beaches, rice fields, lake edges, and sewage lagoons.