Curlew Call MP3s
The Eurasian Curlew's haunting bubbling call, captured for birdwatchers, estuary walkers, and wildlife recordists.
Also known as
Recordings (3)
About this species
Around 55 cm in length, the Curlew (Numenius arquata) is a migratory wader (shorebird): the largest European wader, unmistakable with its very long, down-curved bill. It breeds on open moorland and rough pasture and winters on muddy estuaries.
Its name echoes the haunting, bubbling 'cur-lee' that ripples across moor and estuary. It probes soft ground and mud for earthworms, leatherjackets and other invertebrates. Wary and far-sighted, it is among the first birds to take alarm and lead a mass departure. Its long-distance journeys link the tundra and moors of the north with the estuaries and lagoons of the south.
Legal use
The Eurasian Curlew is not legal hunting quarry in the UK, where a hunting ban has been in place since 1982, or across the EU, where it is strictly protected — all in response to steep population declines. The UK alone has lost roughly two-thirds of its curlews since 1970, and the species is now globally classed as Near Threatened. Limited legal harvest may still exist in parts of its wider Eurasian range outside Europe, but this is not something we can confirm as current or widespread. Treat this call as intended for birdwatching and identification, not hunting, and consult our full country-by-country disclaimer before any other use.