I wouldn't worry about the plumage color, but that bill just looks funny for
any bird. Any chance the photo was enhanced to bring out its shape?

I'd also like to believe. Whatever happened to the secret Canadian breeding
population of the late 20th century?

--Jerry <[log in to unmask]>


On 7/3/08 5:54 AM, "Jean Iron" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> There has not been a rebuttal to this extraordinary claim of an
> Eskimo Curlew, so I offer my views. The poor quality photos show no
> diagnostic characters of an Eskimo Curlew. Its size cannot be
> properly evaluated. The wings linings appear gray not tawny. The bill
> seems too heavy, too deep-based, too long, and too strongly decurved
> for an Eskimo Curlew.
>
> The accepted sightings in Texas from 1945 to the 1960s never reported
> more than two birds (Oberholser 1974). The last photograph of an
> Eskimo Curlew was taken in March 1962 in Texas, reproduced in The
> Shorebird Guide 2006. The last specimen was shot in the Barbados,
> West Indies, on 4 September 1963. I have often wondered if bird in
> the 1962 Texas photo and the 1963 Barbados specimen are the same
> individual given that there were perhaps only three very old Eskimo
> Curlews alive in 1963. There is no evidence that any of the claimed
> sightings since the 1960s was correctly identified. None was accepted
> by a museum authority or records committee. Most authorities state
> that the Eskimo Curlew is "presumed extinct". The recent photos from
> the Netherlands do not change its status. The Eskimo Curlew probably
> has been extinct for almost 50 years.
>
> This is my only post about this bird.
>
> Ron Pittaway
> Minden, Ontario
> Canada
>
>
> At 04:54 PM 7/2/2008, Norman D.van Swelm wrote:
>
> Have a look here please:
>
> http://members.lycos.nl/radioactiverobins/snipes-waders/eskimo%20curlew%20nume
> nius%20borealis.htm
>
> Cheers, Norman
>
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