Long-billed Curlew migration study in British Columbia

Long-billed Curlews (Numenius americanus), North America's largest shorebird, breed throughout the western United States and Canada (southern Alberta, Saskatchewan, and the interior of British Columbia). Approximately 16% of the Long-billed Curlew's global breeding range is in Canada. The species is designated by the Canadian federal Species at Risk Act as a species of Special Concern. In British Columbia, the Long-billed Curlew is Blue-listed and considered Vulnerable.

Over the past 150 years, Long-billed Curlews in North America have declined and their range has contracted, partially due to agricultural intensification. However, in BC, the curlew has been expanding across the province over that time period. The exact wintering locations and migratory routes of British Columbia breeding curlews was unknown, so our project set out to understand this with tracking of birds that breed in the East Kootenays and the Prince George area. GPS tags deployed on curlews in 2017 in the East Kootenays (not on this map) and 2019 in the Prince George area are helping answer these questions.

Most individuals tracked have travelled through central BC, Washington, eastern Oregon, and northern Nevada to winter in the Central Valley of California. One individual (Konrad) took a more circuitous routes east of the Rockies to northern Utah before flying to the Imperial Valley to winter (two individuals of 14 tracked wintered here).