Eskimo Curlew
A vanishing species?
A Curlew By Many Other Names
The species was first described for science by Forster in 1772 based on specimens supplied by Andrew Graham, who collected them near Fort Albany, Ontario, on Hudson Bay (Williams 1969). Since then the generic name (the first of the two words in the scientific name) and the specific name (the second word) have been changed several times by taxonomists (Table 3). The current designation, Numenius borealis, was first assigned in 1790 and has survived five challenges to remain its name today.
Numenius is a Latinized form of the Greek neos, new, young,
and men, a month, menen, the moon; "the narrow arcuate bill being likened to
the new crescent moon....But numenius might also be derived directly from numen,
a nod, a bending of the head downward and forward....[Latin] borealis,
northern" (Coues 1882:104-105). According to Gruson (1972:102), Numenius
is "a Latinized version of the Greek noumenios, which was used by Diogenes
Laertius in the third century A.D. for some kind of curlew."
The Eskimo Curlew acquired more than 40 common names throughout its range
(Table 4). Aside from "Eskimo Curlew" and its various spellings, Dough Bird
(and its various spellings) was probably the most common English name. The latter
presumably arose among hunters because of the nature of the thick fat layer
that the bird developed on migration. For a time in the 1800s some of North
America's prominent ornithologists erroneously applied the name "Esquimaux Curlew"
to the Whimbrel (Wilson and Bonaparte [1878]:2:322; Nuttall 1834:97).
Table 3. Scientific names of the Eskimo Curlew.
| Name | Year | Authority | Reference |
| Scolopax borealis | 1772 | Forster | Forster 1772:411 |
| Numenius borealis | 1790 | Latham | American Ornithologists' Union 1886:159 |
| Numenius brevirostris | 1823 | Lichtenstein | Ridgway 1919:415 |
| Numenius hudsonicus | 1839 | Peabody | Ridgway 1919:416 |
| Numenius microrhynchus | 1866 | Philippi & Landbeck | Ridgway 1919:416 |
| Numenius borealis | 1886 | AOU | American Ornithologists' Union 1886:159 |
| Mesoscolopax borealis | 1919 | Ridgway | Ridgway 1919:412 |
| Phaeopus borealis | 1931 | AOU | American Ornithologists' Union 1931:113 |
| Numenius borealis | 1957 | AOU | American Ornithologists' Union 1957:184 |
Table 4. Common names of the Eskimo Curlew.
Name Area Reference __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Akpingak LABRADOR (ESKIMO) Weiz 1866:267 Akpingek-ik-it (partim) LABRADOR (NORTHEAST) Hantzsch 1928:227 Chittering Curlew LESSER ANTILLES, BARBADOS Clark [1906]:255; Feilden 1889:498 Chorlo polar SPANISH Hall 1960:107 Chorlo camping ARGENTINA (LOCAL) Johnson 1965 349 Chorlo grande ARGENTINA (LOCAL) Johnson 1965:349 C'lew LABRADOR Townsend & Allen 1907:354 Corbegeos FRENCH CANADA Denys 1908:142 Corbigeau QUEBEC Dionne 1883:191 Corbigeau des Esquimaux FRENCH CANADA Greenway 1958:264 Curlew LABRADOR Cartwright 1792:1:159 Curlew Sandpiper TEXAS Baird, Brewer & Ridgway 1884:1:319 Doe-bird MAINE, MASS., NEW YORK Trumbull 1888:203 Dough Bird LABRADOR Austin 1932:90 Doughbird NEW ENGLAND, NOVA SCOTIA Greenway 1958:264 Dough-bird MASS., NFLD., NOVA SCOTIA Forbush 1916:416; McAtee 1959:30 Eskimaux Curlew HUDSON BAY Forster 1772:411 Eskimo-Brachvogel GERMANY Hantzsch 1928:227 Eskimobrachvogel GERMANY Johnsgard 1981:358 Esquimaux Curlew CANADA, BERMUDA Dionne 1883:191; Reid 1884:241 Esquimaux Curlew (=Whimbrel) NORTH AMERICA Nuttall 1834:97; Wilson & Bonaparte [1878]:2:322 Esquimaux-Curlew HUDSON BAY Williams 1969:84 (Andrew Graham) Eskimo Whimbrel GENERAL Seebohm 1888:333 Eskimo Curlew NORTH AMERICA American Ornithologists' Union: 1886:159 Fute NEW YORK Baird, Brewer& Ridgway 1884:1:321 Gallou Birds LABRADOR Hapgood 1887:16 Guilbueach (Beaked one) NOVA SCOTIA McAtee 1959:30 Labrador Curlew LABRADOR Audubon 1960:1:425 Le courlis des Esquimaux CANADA Taverner 1934:191 Le Courlis esquimau CANADA Godrey 1966:144 Le Courlis du nord QUEBEC Dionne 1883:191 Little Sicklebill ONTARIO McAtee 1959:30 Pi-pi-pi-uk ALASKA (ESKIMO) Nelson 1887:121 Prairie Pigeon MIDWEST USA Swenh 1916:333 Shivering Curlew LESSER ANTILLES Clark [1906]5:255 SmalI Curlew GRENADA Wells 1886:8 Small Esquimaux Curlew NORTH AMERICA Nuttall 1834:101 Smaller Eskimo Curlew NORTH AMERICA Baird, Brewer & Ridgway 1884:1:319 Swiftwings UNGAVE (NASCOPIE) Mowat 1984:52 Tura tura PT. BARROW (ESKIMO) Murdoch 1885b:114 Weekee-meneesew (=Sweet grass) NORTHWEST TERRITORIES (Cree) Swainson & Richardson 1831:378; Houston 1974:18 Weekemenew HUDSON BAY Williams 1969:84 (Andrew Graham) Wee-kee-me-nase-su HUDSON BAY Forster 1772:411 We-Ke-wa-ne-so HUDSON BAY (ONTARIO) Lumsden (pers. comm.) Wood Snipe BERMUDA Reid 1884:241 Zarapito boreal CHILE Johnson 1965:349 Zarapito esquimal SPANISH Johnsgard 1981:358 Zatapito polar SPANISH Johnsgard 1981:358
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