Long-billed Curlew - Ross Feldner

This graceful bird has the perfect name demonstrated by its fantastically long bill which can measure up to 9” in length! Actually a member of the sandpiper family, it is the largest shore bird that oddly is seen more often away from the shore. It probes mudflats and grasslands with its slender curved bill which can reach deep below the surface and into small burrows in search of crabs, mollusks and crayfish. It will also feed on toads, spiders, grasshoppers, beetles and other insects.

The Long-billed Curlew displays an elaborate courtship dance featuring fast and looping display flights. After a mate is chosen a small hollow is lined with various weeds and grasses to serve as the nest. Though both parents look after the young, females usually abandon the brood to the male 1–3 weeks after hatching and depart for winter grounds.

It was once a common and widespread migrant on the Atlantic Coast but the hunting of wild game and loss of breeding habitat led to a serious decline in this species and other shorebirds in the late 1800s. Currently there are only around 100 breeding pairs that winter on the East Coast.