Here in Australia, many people are familiar with bush-stone curlews. Their eerie cries have been haunting campers nation-wide for many years. However, another species of curlew – the eastern curlew – is significantly less well-known and prevalent.
Eastern curlews are the largest wader bird in Australia. They have a very distinctive beak which is long and curves downwards, making them easy to spot. The birds can be seen stalking slowly through mudflats and wetland areas, foraging food from the surface or probing deep in the mud or sand with their long bills.
However, perhaps the most interesting thing that sets the eastern curlew apart from the bush-stone curlew is its massive migration. This species, and other migratory shorebird species, fly from northern China or Russia all the way through Asia across the Pacific Ocean to Australia, and sometimes even further, to New Zealand.