{"id":57019,"date":"2019-04-02T05:37:36","date_gmt":"2019-04-02T11:37:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=57019"},"modified":"2025-11-18T16:51:18","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T22:51:18","slug":"why-did-the-curlew-cross-the-road","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/04\/02\/why-did-the-curlew-cross-the-road\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Did The Curlew Cross The Road?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Long-billedLong-billed Curlew crossing a dirt road – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

To be honest I really don’t know why the curlew crossed the road or if it even cared that it was crossing it, I’d say the curlew crossed the road because the road was in its path.<\/p>\n

The road is nothing more than a sandy track that runs through a grassland area where in past years I have seen Long-billed Curlews displaying, fighting<\/span><\/a>, courting, and mating<\/span><\/a> and I hoped to see that yesterday.<\/p>\n

I only spotted two curlews in that area but it is early in the breeding season and hopefully more will show up for the displays that the curlews put on in the spring.<\/p>\n

It is a good thing I have keen eyesight or I would have missed this first curlew in the taller grasses yesterday morning prior to it moving towards the road and shorter grasses.<\/p>\n

Fortunately the second Long-billed Curlew<\/span><\/a> was right out in the open and would have been hard to miss. I noticed that both of the curlews were males and I wondered if any females have migrated into the area yet.<\/p>\n

It is so lovely to hear the curlews calling on and over Antelope Island again, I always miss their calls when they are gone for the winter.<\/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":"

The road is nothing more than a sandy track that runs through a grassland area where in past years I have seen Long-billed Curlews displaying, fighting, courting and mating and I hoped to see that yesterday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":164134,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[511,27,1022,199,26],"tags":[4004,5831,4808,4809,11978,7046,4038,4132,4062,4133,274,165,4236],"class_list":["post-57019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-long-billed-curlews","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-breeding-grounds","tag-curlew","tag-curlews","tag-desert-island","tag-dirt-road","tag-grasslands","tag-long-billed-curlew","tag-male","tag-numenius-americanus","tag-shorebirds-2","tag-spring","tag-walking"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-walking-road-mia-mcpherson-6273.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-ePF","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":57019,"position":0},"title":"Spring 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pose made me think \"The Long-billed Curlew Scores\" but he was really just exhibiting a territorial response to another curlew that 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":"The Long-billed Curlew scores, 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-display-mia-mcpherson-9099.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-display-mia-mcpherson-9099.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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– 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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