Eskimo Curlew
A vanishing species?
The Eskimo Curlew's Year
Winter
WINTER: The curlew's winter quarters are not well documented. A shortage of information is compounded by contradictions in available data (Map 4).
CHILE
Specimens: 2
STATUS: Regular uncommon fall migrant; probable winter visitor.
"Winter visitor" (Hellmayr 1932:398). Wintering "south to...Chile ( Island of Chiloe* [42°30'S] and Paposo [25°01'S])," (Bent 1962:135). "Small numbers took the western route" (Johnson 1965:349). There are apparently no specimens or observations to substantiate wintering.
DATES: SEPTEMBER*, OCTOBER*, 1913 (Hahn 1963; Johnson 1965).
"The last record is from a beach to the south of Iquique, Tarapaca
[20°25'S], in the year 1913" (Johnson 1965:349).
OTHER LOCALITIES: Arica* (18°29'S), Tacna (18°01'S; this locality,
a few miles from Arica but in Peru, is sometimes listed with it for this specimen;
Hahn 1963).
URUGUAY
Specimens: 3
STATUS: Regular uncommon (?) winter.
DATES: SEPTEMBER 9, FALL 1914*, NOVEMBER 30*, DECEMBER 5*, MARCH 1 (Ridgway 1919; Phillips 1926; Hahn 1963).
LOCALITIES: Montevideo*, Colonia**, Concepcion [Argentina?] (references under
DATES).
Figure 17. Mud flats near Rio de la Plata, near La Plata, Argentina. Hugo Irigoyen.
ARGENTINA
Specimens: 13
STATUS: Regular common winter visitor.
"In early days came to winter...[in] Argentina in great numbers" September-March (Wetmore 1927b:15); Central Patagonia*: October migrants (Durnford 1878:404); Buenos Ayres Province [sic]: "Formerly, I used to observe it occasionally and irregularly as a brief visitor at the height of summer or the beginning of autumn (Gibson 1920;71); La Plata*: "Common enough...in my day [before 1888], appearing in September to October.... " (Hudson 1920:208); Tierra del Fuego: "Regular, but uncommon summer visitor... in January, April and November" (Humphrey et al. 1970:201; Fig. 17).
DATES: JANUARY 11*, 16+/-, 17, 1939, FEBRUARY 7*, 13, 16,
17*, 19, MARCH 1, APRIL 8, 16, SEPTEMBER 9*, 29*, OCTOBER* 7*, 8, 15 +, NOVEMBER*,
DECEMBER*; undated**** (Forbush 1925; Wetmore 1939; Gibson 1920; Hahn 1963;
Bent 1962; Barrows 1884; Sharpe 1896).
There are three firsthand references to large numbers. From north to south:
"Common enough...on the pampas...in small flocks of thirty or forty to a hundred
or more, and often associating with the Golden Plover..." (Hudson 1920:208;
Fig. 18). "First seen at Concepcion**, September 9, 1880, in large flocks.
After the middle of October none were seen there, but after leaving Azul
for Bahia Blanca it was seen almost daily on the pampas in company with
the Golden Plover and Bartram's Sandpiper until late in February. After March
1 none were met with" (Barrows 1884:316). "From the 8th to the '10th October
[1877] large migratory flocks passed the Chupat [Chubut] valley**,
flying south. They made a very short stay in the valley..." (Durnford 1878:404).
This observation "suggests that the Eskimo Curlew 'wintered' in southern Patagonia
and possibly Isla Grande [Tierra del Fuego]" (Humphrey et al 1970:201).
Near the northern edge of Patagonia (40°+/- S) many Eskimo Curlews left
the Lesser GoldenPlover and went farther south to winter.
For the period 1874 to 1916, Gibson noted: "Rarely seen alone, it was generally
associated with the American Golden or other Plovers, frequenting certain localities
where the plains were most open, bare and dry; and exceedingly wild, even where
horsemen were concerned" (Gibson 1920:71).
There appears to be a single reference to the curlew's food in South America.
It is from Mar del Plata*, Province of Buenos Aires, in 1914. "On September
29 a shore bird which he took to be an Eskimo Curlew...flew past him. Beck whistled
an imitation of the Hudsonian Curlew's call, which had no effect. He then gave
the call of the Black- bellied Plover, whereupon the Curlew at once turned and
flew into range. It proved to be an Eskimo Curlew, with its stomach characteristically
full of insects" (Murphy 1936:186).
Wetmore details the habitat changes that have occurred in the curlew's wintering
range. There was little change "until the seventies of the last century, when
a tide of immigration flowing into the capital city of Buenos Aires**
gradually extended through the surrounding country and drove back before it
the original inhabitants, the Indians. Extension of cattle grazing, the main
industry at this early period, brought about a rapid change...Cattle tracks
packed the more elevated marshy ground making it firmer and harder, while the
winding trails made by the herds gave drainage to many pools and marshes. Herdsmen
burned dead grass in fall to clear the ground for tender new growth to come
the following spring... Some species of grasses of luxuriant growth disappeared..
and for two or three years large tracts were more or less barren, so that the
ground dried and cracked in the sun. Following this came other grasses that
formed the short turf that today persists where the pastures have not been plowed
and planted in extensive fields of wheat or other crops.
"The changes in conditions on the pampas...took place at the same time as
similar changes in the prairie regions of middle-western North America. The
effect on our shorebirds, combined with increase in hunting in the two regions,
is shown in their reduced numbers and has proved serious to the species that
inhabit open localities on the uplands or higher marshes. In the two decades,
from 1870 to 1890, such species as the Eskimo curlew, the buff-breasted sandpiper,
the upland plover, and the Hudsonian godwit were severely affected..."(Wetmore1927b:17-18).
Noexplanation is given as to how these changes may have been detrimental to
the birds.
Wetmore's description of hunting, based on field work from July 1920 through
April 1921, does not give the impression that it was heavy across much of the
curlew's winter range. "In settled regions in Argentina.,.hunters in small numbers
were abroad constantly, while on holidays they spread through fields and marshes
on all sides....Methods employed in duck or snipe shooting were more crude than
those used in the United States....Decoys...were almost unknown....Gun stores
in large cities were well stocked with firearms of American, English, French,
and Italian makes. Single-barreled 16-gauge shotguns were favored....Shells
loaded with black powder were in universal use....Most hunters favored large
shot, so that ordinary loads were filled with shot ranging from No. 4 to BB."
(1927b:18-19).
Before their decline, curlews were apparently a favored food item in South
America also, "Unfortunately, in Argentina it [Upland Sandpiper] has replaced
the Eskimo curlew as a table delicacy, and is so eagerly sought by gunners that
its preservation in settled regions is doubtful (Wetmore 1927b:14).
"From February to April, when shorebirds were passing northward in migrating
bands, Indians resorted...[to the Riacho Salado*, a stream in the central
Chaco] for the hunting. As sandpipers and plovers passed in flocks the
Indians hurled their throw sticks from concealment through the close ranks with
deadly effect... The toll on shorebirds from these primitive sources is not
great, since the number of Indians who hunt this way is small" (Wetmore 1927b:20).
As for the sale of birds, the following may be indicative of conditiors when
the Eskimo Curlew was common: "Birds were offered for sale in the markets of
Buenos Aires and were included on the bills of fare in the principal restaurants...ln
October and November, 1920, and February and March, 1921, tinamous, wild ducks,
upland plovers, 'small birds' (including a variety of perching birds)' and snipes
were offered daily in the restaurants and were readily available when ordered"
(Wetmore 1 927b:22).
The most recent reports are as follows:
"Mr. Ernest Ronald Runnacles, of General Lavalle, in the eastern part
of the Province of Buenos Aires....writes me that on February 16, 1937, he saw
two, or possibly three, Eskimo Curlews on a level plain near the town. The birds
were quite wild and were observed for some time from an automobile. One had
been seen in this same region about a month previous, and another was recorded
there on February 19. On the 28th of the month the birds had disappeared. Finally,
one individual was seen at this same place on January 17,1939" (Wetmore
1939:476).
OTHER LOCALITIES: Cape San Antonio, Linconia, Palenque, Rosas**, Sauce Chico*,
Sowchen (Humphrey et al. 1970, plus references under DATES).
Figure 18. Pampas in southern Argentina. Hugo Irigoyen.
FALKLAND ISLANDS (51°45'S+/-)
Specimens: 1
STATUS: Accidental in winter.
"This Curlew is a straggler from the coast" (Abbott 1861:156). One undated specimen. Abbott did not see it from February 1858 to October 1860. Hudson (1920:208) mentions specimens collected by Capt. Packe and Abbott but the latter does not corroborate the reference to Packe.
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