Editing Curlew (section)

{{Short description|Genus of birds}}
{{Other uses}}
{{For|other uses of "''Numenius''"|Numenius (disambiguation){{!}}Numenius}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Curlew
| image = Curlew - natures pics.jpg
| image_caption = [[Long-billed curlew]] (''Numenius americanus'')<br/>Fishing Pier, [[Goose Island State Park]], [[Texas]]
| taxon = Numenius
| authority = [[Mathurin Jacques Brisson|Brisson]], 1760
| type_species= [[Eurasian curlew|''Scolopax arquata'']]
| type_species_authority=[[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758
| subdivision_ranks = [[Species]]
| subdivision =
''[[Eurasian whimbrel|N. phaeopus]]''<br />
''[[Hudsonian whimbrel|N. hudsonicus]]''<br />
†''[[Slender-billed curlew|N. tenuirostris]]'' <br />
''[[Eurasian curlew|N. arquata]]''<br />
''[[Long-billed curlew|N. americanus]]''<br />
''[[Far eastern curlew|N. madagascariensis]]''<br />
''[[Little curlew|N. minutus]]''<br />
†(?)''[[Eskimo curlew|N. borealis]]''<br />
''[[Bristle-thighed curlew|N. tahitiensis]]''
| synonyms =
''Palnumenius'' <small>[[Loye H. Miller|Miller]], 1942</small>
}}

The '''curlews''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ɜr|lj|uː}}) are a group of nine species of [[bird]]s 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 influenced by the [[Old French]] ''corliu'', "messenger", from ''courir'', "to run".  It was first recorded in 1377 in [[William Langland|Langland's]] [[Piers Plowman]] "''Fissch to lyue in þe flode..Þe corlue by kynde of þe eyre''".<ref name=OED>{{Cite OED |Curlew }}</ref>  In [[Europe]], "curlew" usually refers to one species, the [[Eurasian curlew]] (''Numenius arquata'').