# Long-billed Curlew

*Numenius americanus*

The female's bill is typically longer than the male's and has a more pronounced curve at the tip.

- **Taxonomy:** Animalia › Chordata › Aves › Charadriiformes › Scolopacidae › Numenius
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** decreasing
- **Biome:** grassland
- **Habitat:** Shortgrass and mixed-grass prairies for breeding; coastal mudflats and salt marshes for wintering.
- **Diet:** Insects like grasshoppers and beetles during summer; marine worms, crabs, and shrimp during winter.
- **Range:** United States, Canada, Mexico
- **Size:** Length: 50–65 cm; Wingspan: 62–90 cm
- **Lifespan:** 8-10 years
- **Active:** diurnal
- **Threats:** Habitat fragmentation due to agriculture, urban development, and the loss of native prairie ecosystems.
- **Safe to approach?:** Harmless and shy. Maintain a distance of at least 50 meters, especially during nesting season (April-July) to avoid causing stress. If the bird flies toward you or calls loudly, you are too close to its nest; back away slowly.

## About

The long-billed curlew ( Numenius americanus ) is a large North American shorebird of the family Scolopacidae. This species was also called " sicklebird " and the "candlestick bird" . The species breeds in central and western North America, migrating southward and coastward for the winter.

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/0d629c0d-d7b7-4df7-a949-f383100c38c7
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/3906
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numenius americanus
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/440484656/medium.jpg (Dan Vickers, CC-BY, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.