{"id":81412,"date":"2021-03-14T06:12:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-14T12:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=81412"},"modified":"2025-11-18T17:23:00","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T23:23:00","slug":"long-billed-curlews-spring-birds-i-look-forward-to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/03\/14\/long-billed-curlews-spring-birds-i-look-forward-to\/","title":{"rendered":"Long-Billed Curlews – Spring Birds I look Forward To"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MaleMale Long-billed Curlews fighting on their breeding grounds \u2013 Nikon D300, f8, 1\/1600, ISO 6400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 321mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Spring birds I look forward to seeing and hearing include Long-billed Curlews which should be arriving in northern Utah any day now if they haven’t already shown up. Quite often I hear these large, long-billed, graceful shorebirds calling<\/span><\/a> before I see them. I love listening to their calls.<\/p>\n

These shorebirds breed in northern Utah where I find them frequently on Antelope Island State Park, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Farmington Bay WMA, and other areas of the state. I also see them in Idaho and Montana. Their preferred habitat during the breeding season includes shortgrass and mixed grass prairies, agricultural fields, marshes, and playas.<\/p>\n

\"SpringSpring adult male Long-billed Curlew \u2013 Nikon D810, f8, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This morning I can’t recall the earliest date I have seen or heard Long-billed Curlews but I know that they should be arriving soon on their breeding grounds.<\/p>\n

In the very near future I will see the males sparring on their breeding grounds while the females watch from nearby. I’ll observe both sexes as they forage, preen, and rest.<\/p>\n

Spring is a time when there are birds arriving that I haven’t seen throughout winter and that is pretty exciting for me.<\/p>\n

It is drizzling rain here this morning but the clouds appear to be clearing. Who knows, perhaps I will see or hear my first Long-billed Curlew of the year today.<\/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":"

Spring birds I look forward to seeing and hearing include Long-billed Curlews which should be arriving in northern Utah\u00a0 any day now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":164151,"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":[27,199],"tags":[4004,5831,4808,4809,779,4337,4109,4132,4062,7025,4133,274,1359,165,5418],"class_list":["post-81412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-long-billed-curlews","tag-adult","tag-breeding-grounds","tag-curlew","tag-curlews","tag-displaying","tag-fighting","tag-grasses","tag-long-billed-curlew","tag-male","tag-mating-season","tag-numenius-americanus","tag-shorebirds-2","tag-sparring","tag-spring","tag-territorial-behavior"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-male-spring-mia-mcpherson-0246.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-lb6","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":81412,"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":5277,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/07\/03\/calling-male-long-billed-curlew\/","url_meta":{"origin":81412,"position":1},"title":"Calling male Long-billed Curlew","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 3, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I haven't heard a Long-billed Curlew calling for several weeks here in northern Utah and I already miss hearing their calls.","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 calling, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-calling-mia-mcpherson-3632.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-calling-mia-mcpherson-3632.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-calling-mia-mcpherson-3632.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-calling-mia-mcpherson-3632.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":51346,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/03\/22\/long-billed-curlews-shorebirds-of-the-great-basin\/","url_meta":{"origin":81412,"position":2},"title":"Long-billed Curlews – Shorebirds of the Great Basin","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 22, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","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 in the grasses on Antelope Island, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/long-billed-curlew-male-grasses-mia-mcpherson-0604.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/long-billed-curlew-male-grasses-mia-mcpherson-0604.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/long-billed-curlew-male-grasses-mia-mcpherson-0604.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/long-billed-curlew-male-grasses-mia-mcpherson-0604.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14505,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/03\/05\/the-long-billed-curlews-are-winging-their-way-to-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":81412,"position":3},"title":"Long-billed Curlews Are Winging Their Way To Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 5, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Long-billed Curlew feeding in a lagoon at Fort De Soto County Park in Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-feeding-mia-mcpherson-6047.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-feeding-mia-mcpherson-6047.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-feeding-mia-mcpherson-6047.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-feeding-mia-mcpherson-6047.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":57019,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/04\/02\/why-did-the-curlew-cross-the-road\/","url_meta":{"origin":81412,"position":4},"title":"Why Did The Curlew Cross The Road?","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 2, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","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 crossing a dirt road, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, 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":14602,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/03\/23\/the-long-billed-curlews-are-back-in-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":81412,"position":5},"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":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81412","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=81412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81412\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}