Far Eastern Curlew 紅腰杓鷸 Numenius madagascariensis
Category I. Uncommon passage migrant in spring, scarce during the rest of the year.
IDENTIFICATION
Apr. 2014, Michelle and Peter Wong. Male on bill length.
53-66 cm. Longer and leaner in the body than Eurasian Curlew. Bill of female is longest of any wader species, while that of male overlaps with that of female Eurasian Curlew. Bill is relatively deeply based and usually has a more extensive pinkish base. Flanks often have obvious dark brown arrowhead marks while lower belly to undertail lack obvious white ground colour apparent on many Eurasian Curlews.
Apr. 2018, Michelle and Peter Wong. Female on bill length.
In flight appears longer-winged, longer-billed and more front heavy than Eurasian Curlew. Back, rump, tail, ventral area and undertail coverts brownish-buff, not white; underwing coverts pale buff densely barred dark brown.
VOCALISATIONS
The commonly heard flight call is an inflected ‘koo-lee’ that is similar to Eurasian Curlew but slightly deeper, stronger, longer, more drawn out and more obviously disyllabic.
Other calls are slightly lower pitched and stronger than those of Eurasian Curlew.
DISTRIBUTION & HABITAT PREFERENCE
Most records are from the intertidal mudflats of Deep Bay and adjacent roosting areas, primarily Mai Po NR. The only record elsewhere of a grounded bird was at the former airport of Kai Tak on 21 October 1974. In addition, groups of up to ten birds in flight have been seen in spring over southern waters, off Cheung Chau during the close approach of a tropical storm and over Silvermine Bay.
OCCURRENCE
Far Eastern Curlew is mainly a passage migrant in spring with smaller numbers occurring during the rest of the year (Figure 1). Spring passage appears to commence around the middle of March, though only one or two birds are generally present. During the last week of the month there is often a more substantial influx marking the beginning of the main passage period which lasts until the first week of May. Peak passage occurs in the middle two weeks of April, and the highest counts in HK occurred during spring 1988 when up to 44 (recorded on 16th) were noted during 11-19 April. The next highest count is 17 on 4 April 2009.
Rather rare in summer with the bulk of such records occurring in 2015-2017 when up to three birds were present in June and July. The earliest autumn migrants probably occur in early August, while the highest autumn count is of four birds on 16 September 2016. Desultory passage continues during October, and it is rare subsequently. One, occasionally two, birds are recorded in some winters.
The first HK records appear to be singles on 29 April 1956 and 27 April 1957 (Walker 1958). The annual number of records of Far Eastern Curlew remained low until an increase during the mid-1970s and a larger increase during the mid-1980s. In both cases, however, it is likely this was due to increased familiarity with the species and, in the case of the latter period, enhanced access to the intertidal mudflats of Deep Bay. Far Eastern Curlew remains relatively scarce, however, indicating that HK lies off its main migration route.
BEHAVIOUR, FORAGING & DIET
Forages in somewhat deliberate manner on intertidal mudflats using bill to extract from burrows crabs, among other prey.
RANGE & SYSTEMATICS
Monotypic. Breeds in east Siberia from northeast Heilongjiang north through Ussuriland around the Sea of Okhotsk to the Arctic Circle. Winters coastally in Japan, China, the Philippines, Borneo, New Guinea and Australia (Van Gils et al. 2020). In China a migrant through much of the country, mainly in the east, with small numbers summering along Yellow Sea coasts and wintering in south China (Liu and Chen 2020).
CONSERVATION STATUS
IUCN: ENDANGERED. Population trend decreasing. It appears to be undergoing a very rapid population decline that is suspected to primarily be driven by loss and deterioration of habitat in the Yellow Sea region.
Figure 1.
Liu, Y and Y. H. Chen (eds) (2020). The CNG Field Guide to the Birds of China (in Chinese). Hunan Science and Technology Publication House, Changsha.
Van Gils, J., P. Wiersma, and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Far Eastern Curlew (Numenius madagascariensis), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.faecur.01
Walker, F. J. (1958). Field observations on birds in the Colony of Hong Kong. Hong Kong Bird Watching Society (duplicated).
