The Whimbrel is a medium-sized curlew, which is mainly streaked brown, with twin dark streaks along the crown and bill. The bill is long and slightly de-curved (curved downwards), with a pink lower base. The legs and neck are long. The body is white below, with coarsely streaked brown upperparts. In flight, the light-coloured rump and streaked tail is obvious. Whimbrels feed in small groups and roost in large flocks, often with other waders. Voice: The commonest call is a far-carrying rippling 'bibibibibibibi'.
Not Threatened.
The Whimbrel is a medium-sized curlew, which is mainly streaked brown, with twin dark streaks along the crown and bill. The bill is long and slightly de-curved (curved downwards), with a pink lower base. The legs and neck are long. The body is white below, with coarsely streaked brown upperparts. In flight, the light-coloured rump and streaked tail is obvious. Whimbrels feed in small groups and roost in large flocks, often with other waders. Voice: The commonest call is a far-carrying rippling 'bibibibibibibi'.
40-45 cm, 350 g
Taxonomy:
- Scolopax phæopus Linnaeus, 1758, Sweden. Four subspecies recognized. (source: Handbook of the Birds of World)
Subspecies and Distribution:
- * phaeopus (Linnaeus, 1758) - Iceland, Faeroes and N Scotland through Scandinavia to R Yenisey and SW Taymyr; winters from extreme SW Europe and Africa through Middle East to W India, Sri Lanka and Andaman and Nicobar Is. * alboaxillaris Lowe, 1921 - steppes N of Caspian Sea; winters on islands and coasts of W Indian Ocean. * variegatus (Scopoli, 1786) - NE Siberia, from Verkhoyansk Mts, and perhaps SE Taymyr, to basins of R Kolyma and R Anadyr; winters from E India to Taiwan, and S through Philippines and Indonesia to Australasia. * hudsonicus Latham, 1790 - W & N Alaska, E to W Yukon and NW Mackenzie, and also W Hudson Bay; winters from S USA to S South America.
They are found mainly on the coast, on tidal and estaurine mudflats, especially near mangroves. They are sometimes found on beaches and rocky shores.
Whimbrels feed on intertidal mudflats by day and night, on worms, crustaceans and occasionally fish and nestling birds. They run nimbly and take prey by probing with their long curved bills in the mud or pecking briskly at the surface.
The migratory Whimbrels breed widely in the Arctic Circle, on drier and higher ground than the Eastern Curlew. The males display over their territory, rising high in the air with rapidly vibrating wingbeats, then spiralling down again. The eggs and chicks have cryptic colouring, speckled to be hidden in their shallow nest among the grass and other vegetation. Breeding season: May to August Clutch size: Three to four. Incubation: 28 days Time in nest: 40 days