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Whimbrel

Numenius phaeopus ORDER: CHARADRIIFORMES FAMILY: SCOLOPACIDAE

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

One of the most wide-ranging shorebirds in the world, the Whimbrel breeds in the Arctic in the eastern and western hemispheres, and migrates to South America, Africa, south Asia, and Australia. It uses its long, down-curved bill to probe deep in the sand of beaches for invertebrates, but also feeds on berries and insects.

Calls

  • Calls
     
    Recorded by William W. H. Gunn
    • Courtesy of Macaulay Library
    © Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

A loud, rolling twitter. Displaying Whimbrel also utters a low whistle, sometimes repeated and/or followed by a trill.

Search the Macaulay Library online archive for more sounds and videos
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bird image Blue-winged Warbler by Brian Sullivan

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