The Curlew

The largest of our daring dozen and the largest European wading bird! These guys are instantly recognisable due to their impressive size and long down-curved bill. This bill acts like a pair of tweezers or chopsticks to pincer its prey in the mud – yum. Females have marginally longer bills. It is thought that this is so that males and females can plunder slightly different food sources, from different depths within the mud. You can sometimes see the birds tossing their prey in the air to catch and swallow them, because their tongue can’t reach the prey to flick it down!

We’re incredibly lucky to have curlews on the East Kent coast. Sadly these birds are classified as Red under the Birds of Conservation Concern 4: The Red List for Birds (2015). The UK breeding population is of national importance, being around 30% of the West European population. Unfortunately we have lost 65% of our curlews since 1970 due to predation and new farming practices. These birds are now Britain’s HIGHEST conservation priority bird species! Let’s look after them. 

These birds come for a winter holiday all the way from Russia, Norway, Sweden and Finland, flying up to 3,000 miles! Understandably, when they arrive they need time to rest, recover and eat A LOT. They’re one of our shiest birds on the coast and can be disturbed from a distance of 800 metres, taking flight and wasting precious energy. Please give them plenty of room and appreciate these amazing birds from a distance.