Far Eastern curlew

Far Eastern curlew
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Scolopacidae
Genus: Numenius
Species:
N. madagascariensis
Binomial name
Numenius madagascariensis
(Linnaeus, 1766)
Synonyms

Scolopax madagascariensis Linnaeus, 1766
Numenius cyanopus Vieillot, 1817
Numenius australis Gould, 1838
Numenius rostratus Gray, 1843

The Far Eastern curlew (Numenius madagascariensis) is a large wader most similar in appearance to the long-billed curlew, but slightly larger. It is mostly brown, differentiated from other curlews by its plain, unpatterned brown underwing, and brown rump. It is not only the largest curlew but probably the world's largest sandpiper, at 60–66 cm (24–26 in) in length and 110 cm (43 in) across the wings. The weight is 390–1,350 g (0.86–2.98 lb), which is equalled by the Eurasian curlew; females are on average about 100 g heavier than males. The extremely long bill, at 12.8–20.1 cm (5.0–7.9 in) in length, rivals the bill size of the closely related long-billed curlew as the longest bill for a sandpiper. It overlaps in range with the eastern subspecies of the Eurasian curlew Numenius arquata orientalis, from which it is most easily told by its brown rump and lower back, rather than white.