{"id":20713,"date":"2015-02-27T06:05:02","date_gmt":"2015-02-27T13:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=20713"},"modified":"2026-05-19T16:20:39","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T21:20:39","slug":"whimbrels-and-long-billed-curlews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/02\/27\/whimbrels-and-long-billed-curlews\/","title":{"rendered":"Hudsonian Whimbrels and Long-billed Curlews"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"HudsonianHudsonian Whimbrel in winter habitat – Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1\/320, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

When I lived in Florida I was able to see and photograph two of our largest North American shorebirds during winter which are Hudsonian Whimbrels and Long-billed Curlews.<\/p>\n

These shorebirds are similar in appearance, feed on the same prey during the winter and are found in similar habitat on their wintering grounds. A comparison of images of Hudsonian Whimbrels and Long-billed Curlews shows the differences.<\/p>\n

Hudsonian Whimbrels are smaller than Long-billed Curlews, their legs are shorter and they have a dark crown with a pale median stripe. They also have a shorter bill than Long-billed Curlews.<\/p>\n

\"Long-billedLong-billed Curlew in winter habitat – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/1500, ISO 320, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Long-billed Curlews have more cinnamon tones in their plumage than Whimbrels do and their bellies are a plain buffy color while Whimbrels have a pattern on the upper chest and a creamy underside. Long-billed Curlews have a pale crown. Both species have a dark line from the bill to behind the eye but it is darker in Whimbrels.<\/p>\n

\"HudsonianHudsonian Whimbrel on the Gulf Coast – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/1000, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Both Hudsonian Whimbrels and Long-billed Curlews have a pinkish base to their lower mandibles but it extends further down the bill in Long-billed Curlews. Female curlews and whimbrels have longer bills than males.<\/p>\n

Hudsonian Whimbrels are less common than Long-billed Curlews and although they share the same type of wintering habitats Hudsonian Whimbrels breed further north than Long-billed Curlews and prefer nesting grounds on the tundra.<\/p>\n

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

Long-billed Curlews are grassland and prairie nesting birds and I am lucky to have them breed right here in Utah, their breeding range extends north to the most southern parts of Canada’s western territories.<\/p>\n

Hudsonian Whimbrels show up in Utah during migration but they are uncommon compared to the numbers of breeding Long-billed Curlews.<\/p>\n

I can’t wait for the first curlews to arrive and I will be keeping an eye out for migrating whimbrels too.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my shorebird photos in their galleries.<\/p>\n

All of the images here were taken in Florida at Fort De Soto County Park<\/span><\/a> and Honeymoon Island State Park<\/span><\/a> in 2008 and 2009.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I lived in Florida I was able to see and photograph two of our largest North American shorebirds during winter which are Whimbrels and Long-billed Curlews. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":135340,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_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":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,25,704,468,200,199,2000],"tags":[4004,11152,164,4982,4808,4809,4827,202,4132,4133,996,992,274,10941,8169],"class_list":["post-20713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-honeymoon-island-state-park","category-whimbrel","category-long-billed-curlews","category-pinellas-county-florida","tag-adult","tag-bill-length","tag-bird-identification-2","tag-comparison","tag-curlew","tag-curlews","tag-differences","tag-hudsonian-whimbrel","tag-long-billed-curlew","tag-numenius-americanus","tag-numenius-hudsonicus","tag-sandpipers","tag-shorebirds-2","tag-whimbrels","tag-winter-habitat"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/long-billed-curlew-lagoon-mia-mcpherson-6759.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-5o5","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8201,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/04\/25\/gulf-coast-whimbrel\/","url_meta":{"origin":20713,"position":0},"title":"Gulf 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