{"id":4728,"date":"2012-04-03T17:29:51","date_gmt":"2012-04-03T23:29:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=4728"},"modified":"2025-11-16T13:47:30","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T19:47:30","slug":"long-billed-curlew-mating-display","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/04\/03\/long-billed-curlew-mating-display\/","title":{"rendered":"Long-billed Curlew Mating Display"},"content":{"rendered":"

Because of my<\/em> keen eyesight, I had a wonderful photographic opportunity yesterday seeing a Long-billed Curlew mating display on Antelope Island State Park.<\/p>\n

I’m\u00a0disappointed 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.<\/p>\n

I won’t be posting my techs for these images because there are so many.<\/p>\n

\"Long-billedLong-billed Curlew on breeding grounds<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale and female Long-billed Curlew courting<\/span><\/p>\n

In this frame the male is on the left and the female is on the right. The female was calling, the male wasn’t.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Long-billed Curlew shaking the female<\/span><\/p>\n

The male began what is termed “shaking”\u00b9<\/span>, in this frame the male was approaching the female from behind.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Curlew ruffling the female’s back feathers<\/span><\/p>\n

In this frame the male is using his bill to ruffle the back feathers of the female.<\/p>\n

\"Long-billedLong-billed Curlew courtship behavior<\/span><\/p>\n

Males also ruffle the under tail-coverts of the female as shown above.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Long-billed Curlew showing aggression<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"CurlewThe Curlew courtship continues<\/span><\/p>\n

After the male moved away he circled back behind the female.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Long-billed Curlew Courting<\/span><\/p>\n

He then began to ruffle her under tail-coverts again and she seemed more receptive to his advances.<\/p>\n

\"Long-billedLong-billed Curlew bill shaking behavior<\/span><\/p>\n

On Birds of North America they\u00a0mention that\u00a0the\u00a0bill shaking is so vigorous that the bill vibrates, observing this through my long lens I would have to agree.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Long-billed Curlew following the female<\/span><\/p>\n

The female would move away slightly but the male would follow.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Curlew ruffling the tail-coverts of the female<\/span><\/p>\n

And he would begin ruffling her under tail-coverts again.<\/p>\n

\"MaleThe male Curlew keeps trying to court the female<\/span><\/p>\n

I kept hoping that the Curlews would copulate. The male sure seemed intent on ruffling her feathers.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Long-billed Curlew ignores the male’s advances<\/span><\/p>\n

I found the pose of the male interesting in this frame with\u00a0his body bent low\u00a0with his wings spread slightly and raised over his body.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Long-billed Curlew gives it one last try<\/span><\/p>\n

The male spent a lot of time ruffling the female’s feathers.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Curlew wasn\u2019t receptive to the male’s courtship<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The displays, interactions, and behaviors were fascinating to me and I hope that I will be able to observe and photograph it again.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Long-billed Curlew photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

\u00b9<\/span> Birds of the World<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had a wonderful photographic opportunity yesterday seeing a Long-billed Curlew mating display on Antelope Island State Park.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":163861,"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":[511,1022,199,26],"tags":[1399,4021,4346,4809,4132,4347,4348,4133,1400,4349],"class_list":["post-4728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-davis-county-utah","category-long-billed-curlews","category-utah","tag-bill-shaking","tag-bird-photography","tag-breeding-behavior","tag-curlews","tag-long-billed-curlew","tag-mating-behavior","tag-mating-display","tag-numenius-americanus","tag-ruffling","tag-sexual-behavior"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-mia-mcpherson-1000.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1eg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4785,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/04\/14\/long-billed-curlews-a-territorial-encounter\/","url_meta":{"origin":4728,"position":0},"title":"Long-billed Curlews – A Territorial Encounter","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 14, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","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":"Long-billed Curlew Appeasement behavior on Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-fight-mia-mcpherson-3803.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-fight-mia-mcpherson-3803.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-walking-road-mia-mcpherson-6273.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-walking-road-mia-mcpherson-6273.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-walking-road-mia-mcpherson-6273.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-walking-road-mia-mcpherson-6273.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":4728,"position":3},"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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