Listen to the Eurasian curlew
Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.
About the Eurasian curlew
The Eurasian curlew is a bird in the family Scolopacidae (order Charadriiformes). Its conservation status on the IUCN Red List is “near threatened”. Adults have a wingspan of about 97 cm and weigh around 742 g.
What does the Eurasian curlew sound like?
Bird vocalisations are usually divided into songs – longer, often complex phrases used to defend territory and attract mates, sung mostly by males in the breeding season – and calls: short, simple sounds for contact, alarm, begging or flight.
The recordings here are labelled as song and life stage…. Listen for differences in rhythm, pitch and repetition – the spectrum display makes it easy to see whether a sound is a pure whistle (a thin line), a harsh call (a broad band) or a trill (rapid repeated marks).
From Wikipedia
The Eurasian curlew or common curlew (Numenius arquata) is a very large wader in the family Scolopacidae. It is one of the most widespread of the curlews, breeding across temperate Europe and Asia. In Europe, this species is often referred to just as the "curlew", and in Scotland known as the "whaup" in Scots.
Related birds in the genus Numenius
More from the family Scolopacidae
Eurasian woodcock
Scolopax rusticola
Common redshank
Tringa totanus
Common snipe
Gallinago gallinago
Common sandpiper
Actitis hypoleucos
Common greenshank
Tringa nebularia
Black-tailed godwit
Limosa limosa
Green sandpiper
Tringa ochropus
Wood sandpiper
Tringa glareola
Dunlin
Calidris alpina
Spotted redshank
Tringa erythropus
Temminck's stint
Calidris temminckii
Frequently asked questions
What does an Eurasian curlew sound like?
You can hear 4 recordings of the Eurasian curlew on this page, including its song and life stage…. Bird vocalisations are usually divided into songs – longer, often complex phrases used to defend territory and attract mates, sung mostly by males in the breeding season – and calls: short, simple sounds for contact, alarm, begging or flight.
Is the Eurasian curlew endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the Eurasian curlew as “near threatened”.
What family does the Eurasian curlew belong to?
The Eurasian curlew (Numenius arquata) belongs to the family Scolopacidae in the order Charadriiformes.
Sources & credits
- Eurasian Curlew (Numenius arquata) (W1CDR0001389 BD26) – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Song · Lies, Terschelling, Friesland, Netherlands by Pascal Christe – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Flight call, nocturnal flight call, wingbeats · Arnhem, Arnhem, Gelderland, Netherlands by Joost van Bruggen – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Life stage… by Dan Whitley – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Wikidata Q18854 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Eurasian curlew – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo by Andreas Trepte – CC BY-SA 2.5