South Dakota Birds and BirdingDevoted to birds, birding, and photography |
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of South Dakota Birds
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South Dakota Birds and BirdingDevoted to birds, birding, and photography |
Custom Search
of South Dakota Birds
|
| Length: 12 to 14 inches | Wingspan: 24 to 26 inches | Seasonality: Migrant |
| ID Keys: Slender decurved bill, dark brown crown with buff spots and edging, buffy supercilium | ||
Once possibly among the
most numerous of shorebirds to migrate through the Great Plains, the Eskimo
Curlew is now feared extinct.
Highly sought after in the 1800's as a game-bird because of their plump bodies,
vast numbers were shot for food. While other shorebirds began to make a
comeback after hunting stopped, Eskimo Curlews continued to decline. The
last verified sighting was in Barbados in 1963. Very similar to the
story of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, however, unconfirmed reports have
continued to trickle in since. An intriguing sighting came from a
well-respected ornithologist in 2006 on the coast of Nova Scotia, but no
photo or other proof was obtained.
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