{"id":51346,"date":"2018-03-22T06:37:08","date_gmt":"2018-03-22T12:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=51346"},"modified":"2024-10-06T05:23:45","modified_gmt":"2024-10-06T10:23:45","slug":"long-billed-curlews-shorebirds-of-the-great-basin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/03\/22\/long-billed-curlews-shorebirds-of-the-great-basin\/","title":{"rendered":"Long-billed Curlews – Shorebirds of the Great Basin"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was one year ago today that I saw and heard my first Long-billed Curlews of the year. This morning as I sit here knowing there are cloudy skies outside I am wondering if the curlews have returned to northern Utah today as well.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Long-billed Curlew in the grasses on Antelope Island – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light (Antelope Island SP, Utah 2017)
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

A year ago today I didn’t get any great images of the curlews I saw that day because of poor lighting conditions and the curlews were often nearly hidden by vegetation.<\/p>\n

Long-billed Curlews are shorebirds that are found in the Great Basin<\/span><\/a> and the Great Plains<\/span><\/a> during their breeding season.<\/p>\n

\"Long-billedFemale Long-billed Curlew with open bill – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/1000, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 340mm, natural light (Fort De Soto, Florida 2009)
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I used to see these birds on their wintering grounds while I lived in Florida and the habitat they used there was much different than where I see them out here in Utah. In Florida I would see them on the beaches of the Gulf coast, tidal lagoons, and spartina marshes. Here I see them in the grasslands, rangelands, sagebrush prairies, and some of the marshes surrounding the Great Salt Lake.<\/p>\n

Long-billed Curlews are large sandpipers and they are our largest shorebird of North America. These birds can be quite difficult to spot in the dried grasses we have gotten used to seeing since last fall. Now that spring has arrived with the fresh growth of new grasses I will be able to spot them from long distances with my eyes and I know I will soon be hearing their calls too which also helps me to locate the birds.<\/p>\n

Listen to their flight calls here<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

I swear that the last time I was up in Box Elder County photographing birds that I heard just one single Long-billed Curlew call. Although, I didn’t hear the call again in the seconds afterwards so I can’t tell for sure that I actually heard a curlew.<\/p>\n

I can’t wait for this dreary weather to be over so I can get back out into the field and spot my first Long-billed Curlew of the year. I need to get out into the field.<\/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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was one year ago today that I saw and heard my first Long-billed Curlews of the year and this morning as I sit here knowing there are cloudy skies outside I am wondering if the curlews have returned to northern Utah today as well. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":129628,"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":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[511,27,1022,25,704,199,2000,26],"tags":[4004,4935,4808,4809,4109,4038,1446,6423,4132,4062,4133,6424,6425,3975,274],"class_list":["post-51346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-long-billed-curlews","category-pinellas-county-florida","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-call","tag-curlew","tag-curlews","tag-grasses","tag-grasslands","tag-great-basin","tag-great-plains","tag-long-billed-curlew","tag-male","tag-numenius-americanus","tag-rangelands","tag-sagebrush-prairies","tag-shorebird","tag-shorebirds-2"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/long-billed-curlew-male-grasses-mia-mcpherson-0604.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-dma","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":101253,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/31\/spring-long-billed-curlew-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":51346,"position":0},"title":"Spring Long-billed Curlew Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 31, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday I spotted and pointed out this Long-billed Curlew foraging and calling in the grasses of the north end of Antelope Island State Park.","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":"Alert male Long-billed Curlew in soft morning light, 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-6441.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-6441.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-male-spring-mia-mcpherson-6441.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-male-spring-mia-mcpherson-6441.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":67513,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/03\/29\/long-billed-curlews-have-returned-for-their-breeding-season\/","url_meta":{"origin":51346,"position":1},"title":"Long-billed Curlews Have Returned For Their Breeding Season","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 29, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Two days ago I heard and saw my first of the season Long-billed Curlews while looking for birds to photograph in northern Utah and I could barely contain my excitement.","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 foraging in mixed grasses, 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-grasses-mia-mcpherson-2014.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-grasses-mia-mcpherson-2014.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-male-grasses-mia-mcpherson-2014.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-male-grasses-mia-mcpherson-2014.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-grasses-mia-mcpherson-0324.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-grasses-mia-mcpherson-0324.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-grasses-mia-mcpherson-0324.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-grasses-mia-mcpherson-0324.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":51346,"position":3},"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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-shoreline-mia-mcpherson-6031.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8503,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/06\/01\/the-candlestick-birds-long-billed-curlews\/","url_meta":{"origin":51346,"position":4},"title":"Candlestick Birds – Long-billed Curlews","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 1, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been enjoying seeing Long-billed Curlews for several weeks now in northern Utah. These large shorebirds birds are also called \"Candlestick birds\" and \"Sickle Birds\" because of their long bills.","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 in a field of Cheatgrass, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/long-billed-curlew-mia-mcpherson-7367.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/long-billed-curlew-mia-mcpherson-7367.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/long-billed-curlew-mia-mcpherson-7367.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/long-billed-curlew-mia-mcpherson-7367.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":45849,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/03\/29\/long-billed-curlews-the-candlestick-birds\/","url_meta":{"origin":51346,"position":5},"title":"Long-billed Curlews – The Candlestick Birds","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 29, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I saw quite a few Long-billed Curlews yesterday wandering in the spring grasses and this time I was able to get nice images of them. Nicknames for Long-billed Curlews include \"sicklebird\" and \"candlestick bird.\"","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 in the midst of preening, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/long-billed-curlew-preening-mia-mcpherosn-0722.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/long-billed-curlew-preening-mia-mcpherosn-0722.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/long-billed-curlew-preening-mia-mcpherosn-0722.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/long-billed-curlew-preening-mia-mcpherosn-0722.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51346\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}