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Little Curlew | Numenius minutus
Kleine regenwulp | Zarapito chico
The world's smallest curlew, a breeder of eastern Siberia that winters in Australia. In the region it is an extremely rare vagrant to the Persian Gulf, recorded twice on grazed or irrigated grassland, its favoured terrain.
Voice
In flight a rapid, whistled tew-tew-tew or chee-chee-chee, higher and softer than the trill of Whimbrel; on take-off also a harsh tchuk.
Recording: Terry Townshend — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · converted to mono · xeno-canto
Identification
Small and compact, about the size of a golden plover, with a short, only slightly curved bill with a pink base to the lower mandible. The head shows a clear crown stripe and a pale supercilium with a narrow dark eye-stripe; the lores are rather pale. Upperparts brown with warm buff fringes; breast finely streaked, flanks barely barred. In flight a uniform brown back and rump without a white wedge and unbarred brownish underwings. Legs blue-grey.
Confusion species
Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) is much larger, with a longer, more strongly curved bill, a darker face and (in the western forms) a white wedge on the back. The almost certainly extinct Slender-billed Curlew (Numenius tenuirostris) has a white back and heart-shaped flank spots. On the ground it can also recall a large sandpiper or a female Ruff (Calidris pugnax), but the curved bill and head stripes settle it.
Habitat
Dry short grassland, fields and irrigated farmland, lawns and airfields; comes less to mudflats and beaches than other curlews. The two birds in the region were on farmland with low crops (Kuwait) and at the edge of a coastal lagoon with mudflats (Dubai).
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the habitats of North Africa and the Middle East.
Range and movements
In the region known only as a vagrant: one in December 2007 on the irrigated pivot fields of Kuwait, and one in March at Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary in Dubai, the first for the Emirates. There are no records from North Africa or the Levant. Beyond the region it breeds in eastern Siberia, migrates through East Asia and winters mainly in northern Australia; elsewhere in the world a very rare vagrant.
How and when to look
A small curlew on an irrigated field or grassy plain in the Gulf states deserves a second look, especially among flocks of golden plovers or lapwings. Check the short bill, the head stripes and the lack of white on the back; a photograph is essential for acceptance by the national committees.
Conservation status
Not globally threatened, with a large but highly concentrated population that depends on staging sites along the Yellow Sea and in East Asia. In the region a pure vagrant without specific protection.
Scientific name
Numenius minutus | Gould, 1841
Gould described the species in 1841 and placed it straight away in the genus where it still stands. The genus Numenius was introduced in 1760 by Brisson. Numenius is Greek, from neos 'new' and mēnē 'moon', after the bill that recalls a crescent moon; noumēnios is the name of a bird in Hesychius. minutus is Latin for 'small'. The specimen the first description was based on came from New South Wales, Australia.