The Eurasian
whimbrel is a wader in the large family Scolopacidae.
It is one of the most widespread of the curlews, breeding across much
of subarctic Asia and Europe as far south as Scotland.
This species and the Hudsonian whimbrel have recently been split,
although some taxonomic authorities still consider them to be conspecific.
The Eurasian whimbrel is a migratory bird
wintering on coasts in Africa, and South Asia into Australasia. It
is also a coastal bird during migration. It is fairly gregarious
outside the breeding season.
This species feeds by probing soft mud for
small invertebrates and by picking small crabs and similar
prey off the surface. Before migration, berries become an important part of
their diet. It has also been observed taking insects, specifically blue
tiger butterflies.
The nest is a bare scrape on tundra or
Arctic moorland. Three to five eggs are laid. Adults are very defensive of
nesting area and will even attack humans who come too close.
Near the end of the 19th century, hunting on their
migration routes took a heavy toll on this bird's numbers; the population has
since recovered.
In the Ireland and Britain, it breeds
in Scotland, particularly around Shetland, Orkney, the Outer
Hebrides as well as the mainland at Sutherland and Caithness.
The whimbrel is one of the species to which
the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA)
applies.