What to look for: Eskimo and Litde The Little Curlew (Numenius minutus) of Siberia is very similar to the Eskimo Curlew Curlews compared (Numenius borealis), and were one to occur as an accidentalin North America, great care would be required to distinguishit from the by John Farrand, Jr. nearly-extinct Eskimo. However, an examina- tion of specimensof both speciesin the [Ed.note -- Althoughthe manyspecimens of American Museum of Natural History, New EskimoCurlew now lying in museumtrays in York, revealsseveral characters by which such North America are apparently correctly a distinctionwould be possibleunder favorable labeled,and all recentsightings at locations conditions. The Eskimo Curlew is a more normal to its knownmigration routes, the Lit- boldly and coarselymarked bird, with heavier tle Curlewof Asia, consideredby someto be streakingon the sidesof the face and neck, and conspecificwith the Eskimo, might conceivably dark chevronson the breast and flanks; the appear sometime, somewherein North Amer- Little Curlew has a relatively more finely ica. For this reason we have asked John Far- streaked face and neck, and the breast is rand, Jr., to comparethe two. His thesisis that streaked rather than marked with chevrons, the two species(?) are separablein the field the chevronsbeing few in numberand confined under ideal conditions,and mostcertainly in to the flanks.In both speciesthe underwing the hand. Unfortunately,the specimens coverts and axillaries are barred with dark selectedfor the accompanyingillustrations brown, but in the Eskimo Curlew these feathers seem to indicate that the characteristic dif- are a rich cinnamon, while in the Little Curlew ferencesare not alwaysobvious, and that there they are a much paler buff or sandycolor. isconsiderable overlap in size,bill length,etc.] Finally,the palepinkish area at the baseof the / \

Fig.1. Ventralview comparing two Little Curlews, Numenius minutus, left, with two Eskimo Curlews, N. borealis, right.Note similarity ofsize and the difference inventral markings (especially twocenter specimens). Theappar- entbill length differential isnot a consistentcharacteristic -- lengths vary by sex and age and overlap isnormal. Specimensshown, I to r: minutus,• Shanghai,April 1886, AMNH • 737920;• Shanghai,April 1911, AMNH 114475;borealis •? Mardel Plata, Argentina, Sept. 19, 1914, AMNH 752067; unsexed, Montauk, N.Y., undated, AMNH335779. nAmericanMuseum ofNatural History, New York. Volume31, Number2 137 lower mandible is more extensive in the Little The Little Curlew breeds in northeastern Curlew, reaching to or beyondthe middle of Siberia and winters in the Moluccas, New the bill, whereas in the Eskimo Curlew this Guinea, and Australia, where it is called the light area occupiesless than half the length of 'Little Whimbrel.'It hasoccurred casually in the bill. the Philippines, Borneo, Celebes, and New In the hand, the two speciesmay readily be Zealand. While there are no records of the distinguishednot only by thesecharacters but speciesin North America,its appearanceon also by the fact that in the Eskimo Curlew the this continent is conceivable,and becauseof rear surface of the tarsus is coveredwith very the great rarity of the Eskimo Curlew, and small, more or less round scales, while in the small curlew suspectedof being the latter Little Curlew the rear surface is covered by speciesshould be distinguishedcarefully not transverse scutes like those seen on the front of onlyfrom the Whimbrel(Numenius phaeopus) the tarsusin both species. but also from the Little Curlew.

Fig. 2. Dorsalview, showing light mediancrown stripe in bothcurlews, a variablecharacteristic. Note similar featheredging on back and upper wing surfaces. Above, rninutus, • WesternAustralia, Oct. 24, 1964,AMNH 803832;below, borealis, unsexed. Labrador, Aug. 20, 1918 AMNH 7S2069. Photos by Doug Rod

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Fig.3. Ventralview, showing comparative bill lengthand body size similarity. In thesetwo specimens borealis sot•t parts(bill and legs) seem darker, but this is not always a reliable characteristic. Above, rninutus, • Shanghai,May 5, 1911, AMNH 114475;below borealis, c• MagdaleneIslands, undated, AMNH 149312.

138 AmericanBirds, March, 1977