18 Eastern or Russian Curlew Numenius a.orientalis

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1 Kentish Plover> / 2 Hudsonian Whimbrel> / 3 Hudsonian Dunlin>  / 4 Interesting Wader> / 5 Knots>  / 6 Baltic Dunlin> / 7 Sanderlings Calidris alba in a storm> / 7A Sanderlings ready to fly home> / 8 Little Stint Calidris minuta> / 9 Eskimo Curlew Numenius borealis>  / 10 Dunlin Calidris alpina in juvenile plumage> / 11 Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus> / 12 Golden Plover> / 13 Cannibalism in the cold> / 14 A plumage for all seasons> / 15 American Golden Plover Pluvialis dominica> / 16 Pacific Golden Plover Pluvialis fulva> / 17 European Curlew Numenius a.arquata> / 18 Eastern or Russian Curlew Numenius a.orientalis> / 19 Steppe Curlews Numenius arquata suschkini> / 20a Wilson's Plover Charadrius wilsonia> / 20b Wilson's Plover Charadrius wilsonia> /  21 The Greenland ringed plover> / 22 The Ringed plover> / SNIPES>

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The breeding plumage shown in the 2nd and 3rd picture has, to our knowledge, 
never been described. Large numbers of these curlews arrive in July to
undergo a complete moult on the mudflats off the village of Oostvoorne and
elsewhere in the Rhine-Meuse delta in the SW Netherlands. A considerable
number stay during winter. During severe frost some of these birds die. 
Autopsy has confirmed our observation that these birds have underwing-
and axillary patterns typical for the race orientalis. Prior to spring migration
this race undergoes a prenuptial moult resulting in the stunning
breeding plumage shown in the pictures below.

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Eastern or Russian Curlew Numenius a. orientalis ad 15102009 8899 Rotterdam The Netherlands,
c Norman Deans van Swelm

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Eastern or Russian Curlew Numenius a.orientalis 19042010 3506 Rotterdam The Netherlands,
c Norman Deans van Swelm

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Eastern or Russian Curlew Numenius a.orientalis 11042009 Grevelingen, The Netherlands,
c Ellen Sandberg

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Eastern or Russian Curlew Numenius a.orientalis 24092007 0263 Rotterdam The Netherlands

c Norman Deans van Swelm

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       10 jun 2010

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