Characteristics
 The long-billed curlew is the largest shorebird in North America. It is 21-26 inches in length. It has speckled brown wings, a lighter brown head and chest, and a very long curved bill. Both the male and female look alike.
Range
 The long-billed curlew breeds from southern Canada to northern California, Utah, northern New Mexico and Texas. The long-billed curlew is a neo-tropical migrator. It winters in Mexico and Central America. It occasionally winters in the United States in California, Texas, Louisiana and from South Carolina to Florida. The long-billed curlew's range was once much larger than it is today. It was found in large numbers on the Great Plains and in eastern prairies. Its breeding range has shrunk and is still shrinking due to agriculture and livestock grazing.
Habitat
The long-billed curlew breeds on plains, grasslands and prairies. It spends the winter on lake and river shores, marshes, mudflats and sandy beaches.
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Diet
 When it is in the grasslands, the long-billed curlew eats grasshoppers, beetles and crickets. It may also eat small amphibians. When it is in its winter habitat, it eats small crustaceans, mollusks, berries and seeds.
Life Cycle
 The female long-billed curlew lays four eggs in a grass-lined nest in a hollow on the ground near rocks, bushes or shrubs. The eggs take about a month to hatch and both parents will incubate them. The deceptive coloration of the long-billed curlew helps it to blend in with its surroundings and avoid predators. When predatory birds are in the area, it will crouch down low on its nest.
Adult curlews actively defend their eggs and young by pretending to be injured and leading the predator away. They will also use vocalization to drive away a predator and will sometimes dive at predators.
The chicks are
are precocial. Shortly after birth their parents will lead them to the feeding ground where they will hunt for
invertebrates
like grasshoppers. Both parents care for the chicks, but the female
will leave after two to three weeks, leaving the male to care for the chicks until they fledge at 32-45 days old.
Behavior
The long-billed curlew flies in formation and feeds in flocks.
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