The Curlew is our largest wading bird, often seen and heard but really hard to get close to. For some reason they are very wary. They breed on the moorlands of the UK, here in Devon, Dartmoor for example. I have also seen them on Saddleworth Moor between Oldham and Huddersfield in West Yorkshire. You can often hear them in these moorland areas in the summer and when I do I am always surprised because I associate their call with the estuaries and seaside in the wintertime. In the picture above you can see how far they will probe with their very long down curved beaks. They are probale feeding on earth worms, a food source to many birds. Earthworms are extremely high in protein. They are abe to feed on grass lke this when the ground is very soft and I would imagine that they feed in the same way during the summer when they are breeding on the peat moors. This makes them a very adaptable bird. I have also seen them catching and eating small crabs in the estuary. In the photo below you can get a better idea of the length of the beak and obviously you can also estimate how far they are probing in to the earth. The fact that wading birds have different lengths and shapes of beaks means that they can all feed together in the same habitat without competition.
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