Editing Curlew

{{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'').

==Description==
They are one of the most ancient lineages of [[Scolopacidae|scolopacid]] [[wader]]s, together with the [[godwit]]s which look similar but have straight bills.<ref name=Thomas>{{cite journal | last1 = Thomas | first1 = Gavin H. | last2 = Wills | first2 = Matthew A. | last3 = Székely | first3 = Tamás | year = 2004 | title = A supertree approach to shorebird phylogeny | url = http://www.pubmedcentral.org/picrender.fcgi?artid=515296&blobtype=pdf | journal = [[BMC Evolutionary Biology|BMC Evol. Biol.]] | volume = 4 | page = 28 | doi = 10.1186/1471-2148-4-28 | pmid = 15329156 | pmc = 515296 | doi-access = free }}</ref> Curlews feed on mud or very soft ground,<ref>{{Cite web|title=How local farmers in Roscommon and their community got together to conserve a bog and protect rare birds|url=https://www.independent.ie/business/farming/forestry-enviro/environment/how-local-farmers-in-roscommon-and-their-community-got-together-to-conserve-a-bog-and-protect-rare-birds-40488002.html|access-date=2021-08-28|website=independent|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=2021-08-19|title=Reared curlews act like wild counterparts after release in Norfolk|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-norfolk-58267090|access-date=2021-08-28}}</ref> searching for worms and other invertebrates with their long bills. They will also take [[crab]]s and similar items.

== Distribution ==
[[File:Oulunsalo.vaakuna.svg|thumb|upright=0.7|The [[Eurasian curlew]] pictured in the coat of arms of [[Oulunsalo]], a former municipality of [[North Ostrobothnia]], [[Finland]]]]

Curlews enjoy a worldwide distribution. Most species exhibit strong migratory habits and consequently one or more species can be encountered at different times of the year in Europe, [[Ireland]], [[Great Britain|Britain]], [[Iberia]], [[Iceland]], [[Africa]], [[Southeast Asia]], [[Siberia]], [[North America]], [[South America]] and [[Australasia]].

The distribution of curlews has altered considerably in the past hundred years as a result of changing agricultural practices. For instance, Eurasian curlew populations have suffered due to draining of marshes for farmland, whereas [[long-billed curlew]]s have shown an increase in breeding densities around areas grazed by livestock.<ref>''Encyclopedia of the Animal World'' (1977): Vol.'''6''': 518–519. Bay Books, Sydney.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cochrane |first1=J. F. |last2=Anderson |first2=S. H. |title=Comparison of habitat attributes at sites of stable and declining Long-billed Curlew populations |journal=Great Basin Naturalist |date=1987 |volume=47 |pages=459–466}}</ref> {{As of|2019}}, there were only a small number of Eurasian curlews still breeding in Ireland, raising concerns that the bird will become extinct in that country.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/6pyVnwJ1jAk Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20201030094327/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pyVnwJ1jAk&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite AV media | author=Christian TV Ireland| date=29 September 2019|title= Mary Colwell- Interview on the almost extinct Curlew bird in Ireland  |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pyVnwJ1jAk&t |access-date= 29 September 2019|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

The [[stone-curlew]]s are not true curlews (family Scolopacidae) but members of the family [[Burhinidae]], which is in the same order [[Charadriiformes]], but only distantly related within that.

==Taxonomy==
The genus ''Numenius'' was erected by the French scientist [[Mathurin Jacques Brisson]] in his ''Ornithologie'' published in 1760.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Brisson | first=Mathurin Jacques | author-link=Mathurin Jacques Brisson | year=1760 | title=Ornithologie, ou, Méthode contenant la division des oiseaux en ordres, sections, genres, especes & leurs variétés | volume=1 | language=fr, la | at=[https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36010447 Vol. 1, p. 48], [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36294657 Vol. 5, p. 311] | place=Paris | publisher=Jean-Baptiste Bauche }}</ref> The [[type species]] is the [[Eurasian curlew]] (''Numenius arquata'').<ref>{{ cite book | editor-last=Peters | editor-first=James Lee | editor-link=James L. Peters | year=1934 | title=Check-list of Birds of the World | volume=2 | publisher=Harvard University Press | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts  | page=260 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14483073 }}</ref> The Swedish naturalist [[Carl Linnaeus]] had introduced the genus ''Numenius'' in the 6th edition of his ''[[Systema Naturae]]'' published in 1748,<ref>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1748 | title= Systema Naturae sistens regna tria naturæ, in classes et ordines, genera et species redacta tabulisque aeneis illustrata | edition=6th | publisher=Godofr, Kiesewetteri | place=Stockholmiae (Stockholm) | language=la | pages=16, 26 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/25749138 }}</ref> but  Linnaeus dropped the genus in the important [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|tenth edition]] of 1758 and put the curlews together with the woodcocks in the genus ''[[Scolopax]]''.<ref>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1758 | title= Systema Naturæ per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | volume=1 | edition=10th | page=145 | publisher=Laurentii Salvii | place=Holmiae (Stockholm) | language=la | url= https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727052 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Allen | first=J.A. | author-link=Joel Asaph Allen | year=1910 | title=Collation of Brisson's genera of birds with those of Linnaeus |journal=Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History |volume=28 | pages=317–335 | hdl=2246/678 | url=https://digitallibrary.amnh.org/handle/2246/678}}</ref> As the publication date of Linnaeus's sixth edition was before the 1758 starting point of the [[International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature]], Brisson and not Linnaeus is considered as the authority for the genus.<ref>{{cite book | chapter=Article 3 | year=1999 |title=International Code of Zoological Nomenclature | edition=4th | isbn=978-0-85301-006-7 | place=London | publisher=International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature |url=http://www.nhm.ac.uk/hosted-sites/iczn/code/index.jsp?article=3&nfv=true }}</ref> The name ''Numenius'' is from [[Ancient Greek]] ''noumenios'', a bird mentioned by [[Hesychius of Miletus|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.<ref name=job>{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names  | publisher= Christopher Helm | location = London | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=[https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n276 276]}}</ref>

The genus contains nine species:<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | year=2019 | title=Sandpipers, snipes, coursers | work=World Bird List Version 9.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/sandpipers/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=26 June 2019 }}</ref>
{{Species table |genus= Numenius |authority-name=[[Mathurin Jacques Brisson|Brisson]] |authority-year=1760 |species-count=nine|no-note=y|narrow-percent=75}}

{{Species table/row
|name=[[Eurasian whimbrel]] |binomial=[[Numenius phaeopus]]
|image=File:Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Linnaeus |authority-year=1758 |authority-not-original=yes
|range=  subarctic Asia and Europe as far south as Scotland
|range-image=File:Numenius phaeopus distribution map.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Five subspecies |bullets=on
| ''N. p. islandicus'' [[Christian Ludwig Brehm|Brehm, C.L.]], 1831 
| ''N. p. phaeopus'' (Linnaeus, 1758l)
| ''N. p. alboaxillaris'' [[Percy Lowe|Lowe]], 1921 
| ''N. p. rogachevae'' Tomkovich, 2008 
| ''N. p. variegatus'' ([[Giovanni Antonio Scopoli|Scopoli]], 1786)
}}
}}

{{Species table/row
|name=[[Hudsonian whimbrel]] |binomial=[[Numenius hudsonicus]]
|image=File:Numenius hudsonicus Zarapito trinador Hudsonian Whimbrel (15366704908).jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Latham |authority-year=1790 |authority-not-original=
|range= southern North America and South America. It
|range-image=File:Numenius hudsonicus map.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Two subspecies |bullets=on
| ''Numenius hudsonicus rufiventris'' – <small>[[Nicholas Aylward Vigors|Vigors]], 1829</small>
| ''Numenius hudsonicus hudsonicus'' – <small>[[John Latham (ornithologist)|Latham]], 1790</small>
}}
}}

{{Species table/row
|name=[[Slender-billed curlew]]  †? (Last seen in 1995 <ref>{{cite web|url= https://magornitho.org/2019/04/slender-billed-curlew-phylogeny/ | title= Magornitho}}</ref>)|binomial=[[Numenius tenuirostris]]
|image=|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Vieillot |authority-year=1817 |authority-not-original=
|range=  Russia, Persian gulf, in Kuwait and Iraq.
|range-image=File:NumeniusTenuirostrisIUCN2019-3.png
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= CR
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}

{{Species table/row
|name=[[Eurasian curlew]]  |binomial=[[Numenius arquata]]
|image=File:Eurasian Curlew.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Linnaeus |authority-year=1758 |authority-not-original=yes
|range=  temperate Europe and Asia
|range-image=File:NumeniusArquata.png
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= NT
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Three subspecies |bullets=on
| ''N. a. arquata'', <small>([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758)</small> 
| ''N. a. orientalis'', <small>[[Christian Ludwig Brehm|Brehm]] – 1831</small> 
| ''N. a. suschkini'', <small>[[Oscar Neumann|Neumann]], 1929</small>
}}
}}

{{Species table/row
|name=[[Long-billed curlew]]  |binomial=[[Numenius americanus]]
|image=File:CURLEW, LONG-BILLED (3-22-10) morro bay, ca -04 (4455146301).jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Bechstein |authority-year=1812 |authority-not-original=
|range= central and western North America
|range-image=File:Curlew feb2009 modified mar4.jpg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}

{{Species table/row
|name= [[Far Eastern curlew]] |binomial=[[Numenius madagascariensis]]
|image=File:Numenius madagascariensis 1 - Stockton Sandspit.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Linnaeus |authority-year=1766 |authority-not-original=yes
|range=  northeastern Asia, including Siberia to Kamchatka, and Mongolia.  coastal Australia, with a few heading to South Korea, Thailand, Philippines and New Zealand
|range-image=
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= EN
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}

{{Species table/row
|name= [[Little curlew]] |binomial=[[Numenius minutus]]
|image=File:Numenius minutus 1.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Gould |authority-year=1841 |authority-not-original=
|range=  Australasia, far north of Siberia. 
|range-image=
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}

{{Species table/row
|name=[[Bristle-thighed curlew]]  |binomial=[[Numenius tahitiensis]]
|image=File:Bristle-thighed Curlew.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Gmelin, JF|authority-year=  1789|authority-not-original=yes
|range=  tropical Oceania, and includes Micronesia, Fiji, Tuvalu, Tonga, Hawaiian Islands, Samoa, French Polynesia and Tongareva, lower Yukon River and Seward Peninsula
|range-image=File:Numenius tahitiensis map.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= NT
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}

{{Species table/row
|name=[[Eskimo curlew]] – †? (Last seen in 1987 <ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=specialstatus.fedsummary&species=eskimocurlew | title= great Alaska department of fish and game}}</ref>) |binomial=[[Numenius borealis]]
|image=|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Forster|authority-year= 1772 |authority-not-original=yes
|range= western Arctic Canada and Alaska,  Pampas of Argentina
|range-image=File:Numenius borealis map.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= CR
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}
{{Species table/end}}


The following [[cladogram]] shows the genetic relationships between the species. It is based on a study published in 2023.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1=Tan | first1=H.Z. | last2=Jansen | first2=J.J. | last3=Allport | first3=G.A. | last4=Garg | first4=K.M. | last5=Chattopadhyay | first5=B. | last6=Irestedt | first6=M. | last7=Pang | first7=S.E. | last8=Chilton | first8=G. | last9=Gwee | first9=C.Y. | last10=Rheindt | first10=F.E. | date=2023 | title=Megafaunal extinctions, not climate change, may explain Holocene genetic diversity declines in ''Numenius'' shorebirds | journal=eLife | volume=12 | pages=e85422 | doi=10.7554/eLife.85422 | doi-access=free }}</ref>

{{Clade | style=font-size:100%;line-height:100%
|label1='''''Numenius'''''
|1={{clade
   |1={{clade
      |1=[[Little curlew]] (''N. minutus'')
      |2={{clade
         |1=[[Bristle-thighed curlew]] (''N. tahitiensis'')
         |2={{clade
            |1=[[Eurasian whimbrel]] (''N. phaeopus'')
            |2=[[Hudsonian whimbrel]] (''N. hudsonicus'')
            }}
         }}
      }}
   |2={{clade
      |1={{clade
         |1=[[Long-billed curlew]] (''N. americanus'')
         |2=[[Eskimo curlew]] (''N. borealis'')
         }}
      |2={{clade
         |1=[[Far Eastern curlew]] (''N. madagascariensis'')
         |2={{clade
            |1=[[Eurasian curlew]] (''N. arquata'')
            |2=[[Slender-billed curlew]] (''N. tenuirostris'')
            }}
         }}
      }}
   }}
}}


The Late [[Eocene]] ([[Montmartre Formation]], some 35 mya) [[fossil]]  ''Limosa gypsorum'' of France was originally placed in ''Numenius'' and may in fact belong there.<ref>Olson, Storrs L. (1985): Section X.D.2.b. Scolopacidae. In: Farner, D.S.; King, J.R. & Parkes, Kenneth C. (eds.): ''Avian Biology'' '''8''': 174–175. Academic Press, New York.</ref>  Apart from that, a [[Late Pleistocene]] curlew from San Josecito Cave, Mexico has been described.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Arroyo-Cabrales | first1 = Joaquín | last2 = Johnson | first2 = Eileen | year = 2003 | title = Catálogo de los ejemplares tipo procedentes de la Cueva de San Josecito, Nuevo León, México | url = http://satori.geociencias.unam.mx/20-1/(6)Arroyo.pdf | journal = [[Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Geológicas]] | volume = 20 | issue = 1 | pages = 79–93 | access-date = 2007-04-29 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110717081100/http://satori.geociencias.unam.mx/20-1/(6)Arroyo.pdf | archive-date = 2011-07-17 | url-status = dead }}</ref> This fossil was initially placed in a distinct [[genus]], ''Palnumenius'', but was actually a [[chronospecies]] or paleosubspecies related to the [[long-billed curlew]].

The [[upland sandpiper]] (''Bartramia longicauda'') is an odd bird which is the closest relative of the curlews.<ref name=Thomas/> It is distinguished from them by its yellow legs, long tail, and shorter, less curved bill.

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book|last=Bodsworth|first=Fred|title=Last of the Curlews|year=1987|publisher=Dodd, Mead |isbn=0-396-09187-3}} (originally published in 1954)
*{{cite book|last=Colwell|first=Mary|date=19 April 2018|title=Curlew Moon
     |publisher=William Collins|isbn=978-0008241056|oclc=1035290266}}

{{Scolopacidae|1}}
{{Charadriiformes|S.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q215166}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Numenius (bird)| ]]