Far Eastern Curlew Numenius madagascariensis

Far Eastern Curlew Numenius madagascariensis

Endangered

Location: Papua New Guinea, Asia, SE Asia, Northern Australia

The Far Eastern Curlew breeds on open mossy or transitional bogs, moss-lichen bogs and wet meadows, and on the swampy shores of small lakes and winters in Papua New Guinea; in the non-breeding season, this bird is essentially coastal, occurring at estuaries, mangrove swamps, saltmarshes and intertidal flats, particularly those with extensive seagrass (Zosteraceae) meadows. They often roost in salt-marshes, behind mangroves, or on sandy beaches (del Hoyo et al. 1996).

Far Eastern Curlews are shorebirds with a big range over #Asia #PapuaNewGuinea #Australia. They’re endangered as their home is being destroyed for #palmoil and agriculture. Support this #forgottenanimal with a #Boycott4Wildlife Art by @kokayart

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Habitat loss on the Yellow Sea staging grounds is probably the primary threat to the species, with loss of stopover sites thought to be responsible for shorebird population declines on the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (Amano et al. 2010, Yang et al. 2011).

IUCN Red List

This species breeds in eastern Russia, from the upper reaches of the Nizhnyaya Tunguska river east though the Verkhoyarsk mountains to Kamchatka, and south to Primorye and north-eastern Mongolia (del Hoyo et al. 1996). The Yellow Sea region of
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Republic of Korea and China is a particularly important stopover site on northward and southward migration. They have been recorded as a passage migrant in Japan, Brunei, Bangladesh, Thailand, Viet Nam, Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore, with up to 75% of the population wintering in Australia. The remaining proportion of the population winters in China, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and New Zealand (del Hoyo et al. 1996).

The major threat to this species is forest degradation, clearance and conversion to plantations or gardens. Pesticide use in oil palm plantations might pose a secondary threat.

IUCN Red List

Progressive declines and extinctions of individual island populations also threaten the persistence of the species as a whole by limiting opportunities for natural or assisted reintroductions.

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There are no known conservation activities for this animal. Share out this post to social media and join the #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife on social media to raise awareness

Further Information

BirdLife International. 2017. Numenius madagascariensis (amended version of 2016 assessment). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T22693199A118601473. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T22693199A118601473.en. Downloaded on 31 January 2021.

Art by Szabolcs Kokay

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