Eurasian Curlew
Here’s a big beautiful Eurasian Curlew flying past our cruise boat on the River Exe.
Whenever I hear the word Eurasian in the name of a bird species I think of George Orwell’s 1984.
“The Party said that Oceania had never been in alliance with Eurasia.”
Numenius arquata is the scientific name of the Eurasian Curlew. Numenius means ‘New Moon’ because of the curved bill. Arquata means ‘like a bow’. The Eurasian Curlew’s bill is so bent they named it ‘curved’ twice. The UK and Ireland have a quarter of the world’s population of Eurasian Curlews and they are doing exceptionally badly. Attempts are being made to reintroduce them as breeding birds to Dartmoor.
Here’s an example:
I wish them every success in their attempts to reintroduce them. To hear their call is to be connected to the last sound of the wilderness here.
Have you seen a Curlew?