16 March: Curlew Day

Today is Curlew Day. It marks the traditional date of return of the long-billed curlew to the Umatilla National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon to start their courtship rituals and nest. 10 things you might not know about curlews:

1. The common name of the bird is thought to come from the sound it makes (‘Cur-lee’). There's also a theory that it comes from an old French word for a messenger, corliu. The genus name, Numenius, on the other hand, relates to the shape of its bill. It comes from the Greek words for "new moon". The Eurasian curlew’s species name is arquata, the Latin word for the archery bow.
2. In Scotland, the curlew is called the ‘whaup’ or ‘great whaup’.
3. They use their long, curved bills to probe soft mud in order to find something to eat, usually worms, Crabs and invertebrates. They can use their bills like tweezers to pick out a yummy snack from the mud. The bill has evolved to be very strong with lots of strengthening structures to stop it from breaking, but that does restrict the movement of its tongue. That is why curlews throw their prey up in the air before catching and eating it.
4. There are eight species of curlew. The Eskimo curlew (N.borealis) and slender-billed curlew (N.tenuirostris) are thought to be extinct as they've not been seen for a while. The remaining species are all endangered or vulnerable.
5. An early mention of the bird in literature dates back to 1,000 AD in a poem entitled The Seafarer. It goes: “I take my gladness in the… sound of the curlew instead of the laughter of men”.
6. The Eurasian Curlew is the largest wading bird found in Europe.
7. A group of curlews is called a "curfew", "salon", or "skein".
8. Curlews were once a common food for humans. Curlew pie used to be a common dish in Cornwall and there's evidence that King James I was served curlew at a feast. In fact, you could buy curlew in butchers in the UK up until 1942.
9. It's tricky to tell the male and female curlew apart. The only real difference is that the females have a longer bill, but since there are individual differences anyway it's not always obvious. Perhaps the best way is to leave it to the curlews, who can tell easily enough, and observe them once they've coupled up to produce young. The one with the longer bill in the pair will be the female.
10. They're also quite similar to another bird, the whimbrel. Whimbrels are smaller and have shorter bills. To be certain, watch as they fly away – curlew have a white wedge on the rump which can be seen when they are in flight.

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