Curlew
Numenius arquata
About
The Curlew is the largest European wading bird and they live up to 11-32 years.
In the winter, Curlews feed in groups on tidal mudflats, saltmarshes and nearby farmland. In the spring and summer, they migrate to their breeding grounds in upland areas of rough pasture, heather moorland and wetland.
Its distinctive and haunting display call ('cur-lee') can be heard from February through to July on its breeding grounds
Conservation status
The Curlew is on the UK endangered species red list (highest conservation priority), with big declines in breeding populations and ranges.
The UK Curlew population is 20-30% of the global total. They are the most pressing bird conservation priority in the UK.
charm for the curlew
in the sky-domed tunnel of sound, which is spring
returning, your call’s a penny whistle played underwater –
notes repeating echo out of nowhere, which is heaven,
and we lift up our faces to bask in your playing, listen
to the soft build of pressure, bubbling into surrender,
which is solid air, staying long after you’ve flown –
a ripple of vowels, which is all heart, the opposite of war –
wings wide, you’re a grey angel, encircling us in this instant,
its passing: may your coming back bring home what’s inside
us, our longing for peace, which is life’s song continuing
Length: 70 seconds
Poem: Linda France
Read by: Linda France
Sculpture
'Curlew Lament'
150x40x7cm
Bronze, painted aluminium and Corten steel
This piece mourns the loss of their distinctive and haunting call from our landscape and is based on the soundwave of this call.
The video below describes the thinking behind the piece.