Living in the Baltic Sea

Color
Brown and beige, fewer brown streaks on the belly.

Average size
Wingspan 84 - 100 cm
Size 48 - 57 cm
Bill 10 - 15 cm

Age
30 years old

Record size & age
31 years old

Habitat
Coastal areas, meadows, moors, bogs, marshes, grassland, on migration mudflats. In the winter they mainly live in coastal areas, on estuaries, sandy shores, salt marshes, on coastal grasslands and to a lesser extent, on inland wetlands.

Food
Their long, curved bill is well suited for probing in the sand. The Curlew eats invertebrates such as earthworms and ragworms, gastropods, small crustaceans, insects and berries.



Reproduction
The birds return to the same patch to reproduce each year and breed in wet grassland, meadows, drier parts of marshes, farmland, heaths and moorland. Both male and female incubate the 3 - 6 eggs for 27 - 29 days. The Curlew, like other large birds, has only one brood per year but will lay a replacement clutch if the first one is lost. The chicks hatch by the end of May and they rapidly become mobile, fledging in about 36 days. Females leave 10 - 12 days after the hatching and leave the caring to the male. Not long after fledging, adults and young birds form flocks and move to coastal localities.

Human Impact and Status
Drainage of wetlands, predation, forestry and overgrazing by livestock threatens the survival of the Curlew. Flooding and the unchecked spreading of scrub-land, which favors their predators, also add to their travails. The breeding population is estimated to have declined by 80 % in the last 30 years. CLOSE