By Mia McPherson, on April 14th, 2012% A little less than two weeks ago I did a post titled Long-billed Curlew Mating Display and I was thrilled to see their interactions. Yesterday on Antelope Island State Park I witnessed and photographed a territorial encounter between two Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus) males that occurred while a female was nearby.
I won’t be posting my techs because there are so many images, I used a Nikon D300 with a Nikkor 200-400mm VR lens with the 1.4x TC attached. The quality of many of theses images aren’t my best but I really like the behavior that they show.
 Long-billed Curlews When we drove slowly up on the Curlews they were just standing close to each other but before the engine was even turned off these two birds were going at it hot and heavy. Even the dirt was flying!
 Long-billed Curlews My shutter speed for this frame was 1/1600 and even that wasn’t fast enough to freeze the action.
 Long-billed Curlews This image shows “Wing-raising” by the aggressor and I believe the bird in the foreground is displaying “Appeasement”. I’m not sure the bird in the front could have flattened itself much further.
 Long-billed Curlews Birds of North America states that violent, physical interactions are rare but this was beginning to look pretty violent to me as the one male stabbed its bill toward the other.
 Long-billed Curlews I’m not sure which bird is the aggressor here.
 Long-billed Curlews Or here.
 Long-billed Curlews This frame makes me think of fencing, En garde!
 Long-billed Curlews At this point I thought the male on the left was going to take off, that the Curlew in the back would be the winner of the encounter.
 Long-billed Curlews It certainly looked like the bird was going to leave.
 Long-billed Curlews And then the action started again.
 Long-billed Curlews From still images it is difficult to get a feel of just how fast everything was happening. It was a challenge just keeping the two Curlews in the viewfinder.
 Long-billed Curlews The cinnamon colored underwings of these two males were flashing often. The bird’s bills were moving almost too quickly to follow with my eyes.
 Long-billed Curlews Kick Boxing, Long-billed Curlew style. The female was still somewhere outside the frame watching all of the action going on, I just did not have time to photograph her.
 Long-billed Curlews In this image the bill tip of the bird on the left can be seen just above the wing of the bird on the right. It had to have gone under the wing and over the rump of the opponent.
 Long-billed Curlews Things seemed to be heating up.
 Long-billed Curlew But one of the males lifted off from the ground and the female followed it to a grassy slope behind us leaving this Curlew on the fighting ground. He stayed still for quite sometime and it seemed that his right eye had been irritated by the scuffle because it kept closed most of the time.
 Long-billed Curlew Before long the bird lifted off, perhaps to find a different mate.
The interaction between the two male Curlews was fascinating and I felt privileged to see and photograph it through my lens. I had a front row seat to an unexpected show that nature provided!
Mia
More Long-billed Curlew images
By Mia McPherson, on April 3rd, 2012% I had a wonderful photographic opportunity yesterday with two Long-billed Curlews (Numenius americanus) on Antelope Island State Park that were exhibiting mating behavior.
I’m disappointed that I wasn’t closer than I was because I feel that these images are merely documentary shots instead of the fine, highly detailed images I would have loved. These are crops of more than 45% and because of that I don’t have the fine details that I want from all of my images. I’d never seen this behavior before and would have loved to have gotten better pictures.
I won’t be posting my techs for these images because there are so many.
 Long-billed Curlew At first there was only one Curlew but shortly afterwards another bird flew in. Female Curlew’s bills are typically longer than the males bills.
 Long-billed Curlews In this frame the male is on the left and the female is on the right. The female was calling, the male wasn’t.
 Long-billed Curlews The male began what is termed “shaking”¹, in this frame the male was approaching the female from behind.
 Long-billed Curlews In this frame the male is using his bill to ruffle the back feathers of the female.
 Long-billed Curlews Males also ruffle the under tail-coverts of the female as shown above.
 Long-billed Curlews At one point during this display the female acted aggressively towards the male and used her bill to poke or prod him, he reacted by raising his wings and moved away from her.
 Long-billed Curlews After the male moved away he circled back behind the female.
 Long-billed Curlews He then began to ruffle her under tail-coverts again and she seemed more receptive to his advances.
 Long-billed Curlews On Birds of North America they mention that the bill shaking is so vigorous that the bill vibrates, observing this through my long lens I would have to agree.
 Long-billed Curlews The female would move away slightly but the male would follow.
 Long-billed Curlews And he would begin ruffling her under tail-coverts again.
 Long-billed Curlews I kept hoping that the Curlews would copulate. The make sure seemed intent on ruffling her feathers.
 Long-billed Curlews I found the pose of the male interesting in this frame with his body bent low with his wings spread slighty and raised over his body.
 Long-billed Curlews The male spent a lot of time ruffling the female’s feathers.
 Long-billed Curlews Now matter how much this male paid attention to the female she wasn’t receptive and became aggressive with the male again. After the male moved away he flew off.
The interactions and behaviors were fascinating to me and I hope that I will be able to observe and photograph it again.
Mia
More Long-billed Curlew images
¹ Birds of North America
By Mia McPherson, on March 29th, 2012%  Long-billed Curlew - Nikon D300, f7.1, 1/800, ISO 640, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light Yesterday started off a bit cloudy so we got a late start heading out to Antelope Island to see what birds we could find. There weren’t many along the causeway except for ducks and coots that always seem take off as soon a vehicle slows down near them. I did see a Northern Harrier with nesting material in its talons and that made me hope that I’d be able to locate a pair of them building a nest. That isn’t as easy as it sounds.
Once on the island there were some Red-winged Blackbirds that wouldn’t stay still long enough to focus on them and a Chukar that slipped down the side of a rock after I had taken just one frame. Things were looking like they were going to be slow… again.
 Preening Long-billed Curlew - Nikon D300, f7.1, 1/800, ISO 640, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light None of the Loggerhead Shrikes were close enough to photograph so we pulled up to where some Black-billed Magpies have been busy nest building for the past several weeks. The thing is that there are often 15 to 20 minute intervals between the birds bringing in nesting materials. So we usually sit there waiting.
But not today. We hadn’t been there three minutes when I heard a distinctive call and I knew immediately what the sound was. I glanced up towards the sky and saw a very familiar shape winging its way towards us, then I saw another not too far behind.
The Long-billed Curlews (Numenius americanus) have returned to their breeding grounds! I would have jumped for joy but when you are inside a vehicle that can lead to a severe headache after hitting your skull on the roof. 
 Long-billed Curlew wing lift - Nikon D300, f7.1, 1/1000, ISO 640, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light It wasn’t long before I could see and hear several other pairs flying around in the sky and calling. I know I have said it before but it really is a sound you won’t forget after hearing it.
We found a couple of pairs of Curlews preening in the grasses and photographed them. I wish that the bird doing the wing lift in the photo above had been facing us but I take comfort in the fact that it is early in the season and there will be many more opportunities to catch that action.
 Long-billed Curlew - Nikon D300, f7.1, 1/1600, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light For several weeks the cries of the Curlews will be heard over their breeding grounds and their displays both in the air and in the grasses will be seen.
It is great to have them back.
Mia
More Long-billed Curlew images
By Mia McPherson, on March 11th, 2012% A few days ago I read that a Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus) had been spotted on Antelope Island State Park and that got me excited. I’ve waited to see them again since they left last fall and I simply can not wait to hear their mysterious and hauntingly beautiful call.
 Long-billed Curlew in a tidal lagoon, Florida - Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/1000, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 310mm, natural light When I still lived in Florida I would see Long-billed Curlews in very different habitats than I do here in Utah. I found them on the sandy shorelines of the Gulf of Mexico, strolling around the Sea Oats in the dunes, foraging in tidal lagoons and in Spartina marshes. They were lovely, graceful and interesting birds to photograph. But they did not call. Not once did I hear them.
 Long-billed Curlew in prairie grasses, Utah - Nikkor D200, f7.1, 1/500, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light In both Utah and Montana I see the birds most often in the grasses, on the shorelines of the freshwater marshes, lakes and ponds, near Sagebrush on gentle slopes and the edges of the Great Salt Lake.
On their breeding grounds here in Utah and in Montana I do hear them call. It is a sound that once I heard it I knew I’d never forget. Will I hear them today when I am out in the field?
I sure hope so.
Mia
Listen to the call of a Long-billed Curlew on this page
More Long-billed Curlew images.
By Mia McPherson, on February 13th, 2012% I’m always looking for great action or interesting poses when I am out photographing birds and usually I am not disappointed and once in a while I get some very funny images. Mondays just seem like a great day for some humor.
 Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja)
Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/1250, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm
I was laying in the mud of a tidal pool photographing this Roseate Spoonbill when it stretched out its bill, fluffed its feathers and it looked kind of goofy in this frame right before it shook its head.
Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus)
Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/180, ISO 320, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 280mm, low light
I was photographing this Long-billed Curlew as it preened on a foggy morning when it gave me this great pose.
American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus)
Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/640, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 4oomm
Each time I see this image I have to laugh because the pose is so funny, at least I got a catchlight in the eye!
Mia
*Click the image to view a larger version
All of these images were taken in Florida
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Photographing a Tricolored Heron from a tidal lagoon
Focusing on Wildlife Contributor
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