Eurasian Curlew - Numenius arquata
Pictures by Ray Tipper - More about Ray...
More about Ray Tipper
Ray Tipper began his birding on the North Kent Marshes at the age if eleven. He left his native Britain in 1973 spending most of the next 22 years in Hong Kong. As a trustee of WWF he was intimately involved with its renowned Mai Po Nature Reserve. It was in Hong Kong that Ray turned to bird photography, which quickly became his major interest. He gained associateship of the Royal Photographic Society in 1990, and his photographs appear in journals and books throughout the world. Ray guides specialist birdwatching and bird photography tours and since 1997 has led more than 100 tours in Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa and Madagascar. He now lives in the Algarve, where his intimate knowledge of its birds has been recognised by his appointment as Chairman of the Portuguese Rarities Committee.
Like all members of the curlew family, Eurasian Curlew numbers are in serious decline and accordingly its status is categorized as Near Threatened by the IUCN. Perhaps the greatest threats in Northern Europe are the loss of moorland to afforestation, intensification of farming and land drainage of its breeding habitat. Among its many other threats are significant losses of eggs and chicks due to changed farming methods, human disturbance on its nesting grounds, hunting and avian flu. Its wintering grounds, principally inter-tidal mudflats, are subject to land reclamation, pollution, hunting and mechanical shellfish gathering. In the Algarve, the mudflats at Quinta de Marim and the Canal de Tavira are important wintering sites for Eurasian Curlew where it can often be compared with its congeneric, Eurasian Whimbrel.
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