{"id":14505,"date":"2014-03-05T05:18:35","date_gmt":"2014-03-05T11:18:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=14505"},"modified":"2025-11-17T07:07:00","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T13:07:00","slug":"the-long-billed-curlews-are-winging-their-way-to-utah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/03\/05\/the-long-billed-curlews-are-winging-their-way-to-utah\/","title":{"rendered":"Long-billed Curlews Are Winging Their Way To Utah"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Long-billedLong-billed Curlew feeding in a lagoon – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/1000, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm at 340mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Long-billed Curlews have begun to leave or have left their wintering grounds and should be winging their way to Utah\u00a0and arriving here any day now. Their calls will soon be heard at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a>, Antelope Island State Park<\/a><\/span> and beyond.\u00a0It won’t be long before there will be aerial displays, territorial disputes and pair bonding.<\/p>\n

\"Long-billedLong-billed Curlew at the edge of a lagoon\u00a0– Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/800, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm at 330mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Last week I thought I heard a lone Long-billed Curlew call while I was on Antelope Island State Park photographing other birds but\u00a0the sound only happened once\u00a0and perhaps it was just wistful thinking on my part. I do miss these graceful grassland shorebirds when they are gone for the winter\u00a0and last year they showed up the middle of March. It has been very spring-like here and they might just show up early. I know I can barely wait to see, hear and photograph them in Utah and shortly after that in Montana.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

The Long-billed Curlew in these images were taken in Florida in 2009.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Long-billed Curlew photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Long-billed Curlews have begun to leave or have left their wintering grounds and should be winging their way to Utah and arriving here any day now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":163983,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,25,704,199],"tags":[4021,4083,2480,4070,4136,4537,3997,4132,4035,4133,3980,274,4032],"class_list":["post-14505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-long-billed-curlews","tag-bird-photography","tag-birding","tag-breeding-territory","tag-female","tag-foraging","tag-grassland","tag-lagoon","tag-long-billed-curlew","tag-nature-photography","tag-numenius-americanus","tag-pinellas-county","tag-shorebirds-2","tag-wildlife-photography"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-feeding-mia-mcpherson-6047.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-3LX","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":20954,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/03\/15\/hoping-for-curlews\/","url_meta":{"origin":14505,"position":0},"title":"Hoping For Curlews","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 15, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Two days ago I saw my first of the year Sage Thrasher and now I am hoping to see and hear my first of the year Long-billed Curlews as well.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Long-billed Curlew on a sandy beach at Fort De Soto County Park, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-florida-mia-mcpherson-4634.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-florida-mia-mcpherson-4634.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-florida-mia-mcpherson-4634.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-florida-mia-mcpherson-4634.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4689,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/03\/29\/long-billed-curlews-i-heard-you\/","url_meta":{"origin":14505,"position":1},"title":"Long-billed Curlews… I Heard You!","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 29, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"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. :-)","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Long-billed Curlew all fluffed up, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/long-billed-curlew-mia-mcpherson-9391.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/long-billed-curlew-mia-mcpherson-9391.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/long-billed-curlew-mia-mcpherson-9391.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/long-billed-curlew-mia-mcpherson-9391.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14602,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/03\/23\/the-long-billed-curlews-are-back-in-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":14505,"position":2},"title":"Long-billed Curlews Are Back In Utah!","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 23, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I saw my first of the year Long-billed Curlews two days ago on Antelope Island State Park flying overhead. They weren't close enough to photograph but I know that soon I will have them in my viewfinder again.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Curlew walking the shore of the Gulf of Mexico at Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-shoreline-mia-mcpherson-6031.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-shoreline-mia-mcpherson-6031.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-shoreline-mia-mcpherson-6031.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/long-billed-curlew-lagoon-mia-mcpherson-6759.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/long-billed-curlew-lagoon-mia-mcpherson-6759.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/long-billed-curlew-lagoon-mia-mcpherson-6759.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/long-billed-curlew-lagoon-mia-mcpherson-6759.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":81412,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/03\/14\/long-billed-curlews-spring-birds-i-look-forward-to\/","url_meta":{"origin":14505,"position":4},"title":"Long-Billed Curlews – Spring Birds I look Forward To","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 14, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Spring birds I look forward to seeing and hearing include Long-billed Curlews which should be arriving in northern Utah\u00a0 any day now.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spring adult male Long-billed Curlew on breeding grounds, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-male-spring-mia-mcpherson-0246.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-male-spring-mia-mcpherson-0246.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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through\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Long-billed Curlew displaying in front of Fremont Island and the Promontory Mountains, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-male-displaying-mia-mcpherson-3495.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-male-displaying-mia-mcpherson-3495.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-male-displaying-mia-mcpherson-3495.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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