| FEATURED LONG ISLAND BIRD by Karen WHIMBREL Numenius phaeopus L. 16-16 3/4 in. (40-42cm) WS 30 1/2-35 1/2 in. (76-89 cm) Wt. 312- 493 G. |
| The Whimbrel is a large shorebird that visits Long Island in both the fall and spring. Historically it was referred to as the Hudsonian Curlew and is one of four subspecies breeding in Canada and Alaska and spending winters in the Southern U.S. and southern South America. "Numenius" is Greek for "new moon" as the bill is crescent shaped; Phaeopus means "dark countenance". Whimbrels have a long neck, small head with a brown stripe on the top, buffy stripes over the eye and a brown stripe through the eye. The long bill is decurved and is brownish black with the lower mandible flesh colored. It is the bird's most striking feature with its shape allowing for deep probing in mud flats, and once giving the Whimbrel the nick-name "elephant bird" The legs are grayish blue, the eyes are dark brown and the upper body is black brown with spots of brown-white. Plumage for Whimbrels is the same for both winter and summer. |
| Best places to see Whimbrels on LI are on Dune Road in Hampton Bays and farther East as well as tidal flats on the North Fork. Spring is here! Get out and GO BIRDING!! Karen |
| A Site About Long Island Birds & Birdwatching |
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| Whimbrels feed in tidal flats and marshes and eat marine invertebrates, crustaceans, worms and mollusks. (The curved bill fits nicely into fiddler crab burrows.) On breeding grounds Whimbrels will eat berries, flowers and lots of insects. They will pick a berry or two with the tip of their bill and flip the berry in their air, catch it and swallow. Both male and female Whimbrel call (contact calls) to let one another know where they are. This call is known as the seven whistle call because it is made up of seven single whistles. |
| Spring migration begins in April on the Gulf and Atlantic coasts. Many first year birds, as well as some second year birds, will stay on their wintering grounds through the summer. Breeding grounds are from Iceland across Eurasia, Alaska & Canada; preferring boreal/low-arctic moorland and tundra near treeline. Males arrive on territory and, once the ground is exposed through the snow, will begin aerial displays. Courtship includes "high circling song flight" with prolonged "bubbling" noises. Nests are a "shallow bowl" in the ground lined with leaves. Usually four eggs are laid with an incubation period of 22 to 28 days; both male and females sit on the nest. The young birds are covered in down and can move around soon after they hatch. The young are not fed by the parents but forage on their own with the parents nearby keeping watch. |
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| Adult females leave for fall migration first, males second and the young leave last. Unlike spring migration which is faster (some birds will fly up to 2500 miles non-stop during this time) and more direct, fall migration takes a little longer allowing the birds to fatten up. Whimbrels migrate with other shorebirds often acting as sentinel species; often the first to spot danger and alert other birds. They fly in groups sometimes in a V shape or in a long straight line.
Whimbrels were aggressively hunted here in the early 1900's and are still hunted in Thailand; pre-1900 numbers have never been fully restored. Currently human impact is the biggest threat to populations; pollution, habitat loss of nesting sites as well as refueling stops along migration routes. The US Shorebird Conservation Plan lists Whimbrels as "Species of High Concern". |
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| Photo by Sam Jannazzo |