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Far Eastern Curlew

 

Numenius madagascariensis

IUCN status: Endangered

Flyway population 35000 (2022 estimate)

Far Eastern Curlew. Robert Bush. 2026

Far Eastern Curlew.  Greg Dietrich. 2026

Identification

Non-breeding:  Its upperparts are pale buff or rufous with dark centres to the feathers of the back and shoulders giving a streaked appearance.  The head and neck feathers are more finely streaked.  The underparts are paler but still with the streaking becoming less marked lower on the belly.  The bill is extremely long and down-curved, it is black though slightly flesh coloured at the base. Also the bill of the female is slightly longer than the male.  The legs are dull blue-grey.

Breeding:  Similar to the non-breeding plumage but the upper feathers have a rufous colouration on their edges giving a sharper and generally browner look to the bird.

Juvenile:  Similar to the non-breeding plumage but the feathers of the upperparts have a pale buff edge, giving a paler look than that of the adult.

Distribution

Monthly reports of Far Eastern Curlew in Queensland

Monthly sightings

 

The Far Eastern Curlew breeds in Siberia and north-eastern China.  It is a passage migrant in Mongolia, Japan, Korea, China, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia to its non-breeding grounds. About 25% of the population spends the non-breeding season in the Philippines, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea but about 70% spend the non-breeding season in Australia. Small numbers regularly visit New Zealand. When in Australia, the Far Eastern Curlew is widespread along the north-east and south-east coast, and can be found in smaller numbers elsewhere along the coastline.

Confusing Species

Whimbrel: This large wader is not as massive as the Far Eastern Curlew but because of the down-curved is confused with the Far Eastern Curlew.  However, the bill is only two to three times the length of the head.  The top of the head of the Whimbrel is a distinctive crown, and the brown of its back runs right down the back.

Eurasian Curlew:  Very,very rare vagrant to Australia, but with its white rump and underparts it should be easy seen in flocks of curlew.

Best sites in Queensland to see Far Eastern Curlew

Population trends:

Number of shorebird areas used in the trend analysis: 36

Generation time: 6.8 years (Bird et al. 2020)

Percent change in abundance over three generations: -63.64 (95%CI: -72.84, -51.61)

Percent change in abundance between 1993 and 2021: -77.00 (95%CI: -83.03, -69.21)

Percent annual change in abundance between 1993 and 2021: -5.11 (95%CI: -6.14, -4.12)

Percent annual change in abundance between 1993 and 2012: -5.51 (95%CI: -7.31, -3.73)

Percent annual change in abundance between 2012 and 2021: -1.46 (95%CI: -4.93, 2.11)

Change in annual growth rate between 1993-2012 and 2012-2021: 0.042 (95%CI: 0.00085, 0.083)

(Data from Rogers,Fuller and Amano 2023 – see ref 4)

Yearly trends in Queensland

International and Nationally Important sites in Queensland

Significant Bird Area Year Peak Count International National
Moreton Bay 2021 2125 Yes Yes
Great Sandy Strait 2010 2010 Yes Yes
Pumicestone Passage 2016 813 Yes Yes
Broadsound 2014 599 Yes Yes
Mackay 2013 526 Yes Yes
Shoalwater 2016 518 Yes Yes
Central Queensland Narrows 2013 407 Yes Yes
SE Gulf of Carpentaria 2013 406 Yes Yes
Gladstone 2011 353 Yes Yes

Conservation 

EPBC listing: Critically Endangered, Marine, Migratory

Approved conservation advice:

https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/consultation-document-numenius-madagascariensis.pdf

Threatened Species Recovery Hub Strategic Plan

https://www.nespthreatenedspecies.edu.au/projects/strategic-planning-for-the-far-eastern-curlew

Listed as Critically Endangered in Australia given evidence that species has declined by c. 80% in last 30 years, with losses of 2·4% annually at Moreton Bay in 1992–2008, c. 5% annually in Victoria in 1980–2010, by > 65% in Tasmania since 1950s, and by 40% across 49 Australian sites in c. 1983–2007.

During last two decades, world population variously estimated to number 29,000–38,000 individuals, with Australia holding up to 27,000 birds in summer non-breeding grounds (1500 of them in N Western Australia and up to 4600 at Moreton Bay, SE Queensland , with other major sites including Hervey Bay, Queensland, and Corner Inlet and Western Port Bay, Victoria).

References

    1. BirdLife Australia (2023). Far Eastern Curlew. [Text before updates sourced from: Marchant, S. et al (eds) 1990-2006 Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds.Volume 1 to 7.] Birdlife Australia. Birdlife Australia. Source: https://hanzab.birdlife.org.au/species/far-eastern-curlew/ Accessed: April 30, 2026 Time Zone: +10:00
    2. van Gils, J., P. Wiersma, and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Far Eastern Curlew (Numenius madagascariensis), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.faecur.01
    3. eBird. 2021. eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance [web application]. eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Available:  http://www.ebird.org (Accessed: Date 12/4/2026)
    4. Rogers A, Fuller RA & Amano T (2023) Australia’s migratory shorebirds: Trends and prospects. Report to the National Environmental Science Program. University of Queensland, Brisbane.
    5. Driessen, J., Kidd, L. R., Weller, D. R., Purnell, C., Maguire, G., Jaensch, R., and LeClair, S. M. (2025). Australian National Directory of Important Migratory Shorebird Habitat. Report for the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. BirdLife Australia, Melbourne.