Bristle-thighed curlew
Numenius tahitiensis
Identification Tips:
- Length: 15 inches
- Large shorebird
- Long decurved bill
- Dark legs
- Grayish-white and brown head stripes
- Brown upperparts with small light and dark spots
- White belly and undertail coverts
- Plain upperparts, no wing stripe
- Rusty rump and tail
- United States range restricted to Alaska and Hawaii
Similar species:
Whimbrel is very similar but has a brown, not rust, rump and tail. Other
shorebirds with decurved bills lack head stripes.
Length and wingspan from: Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S., (1966). Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc.