Long-Billed Curlew: Another Grassland Endemic
 The
striking Long-billed Curlew is another species of concern associated
with declining grasslands. It is one of only 9 species that are
considered to be endemic to the grasslands of the Great Plains.
While the species does not nest on Otero Mesa, it certainly uses
the area in migration and during the winter.
There is hardly a more unusual looking bird in North American
than the Long-billed Curlew. The long, decurved bill, which is
used for probing for invertebrates, makes up over a quarter of
the length of the bird. The species nests in eastern New Mexico
and with the species breeding range shrinking over the last century,
it is not unreasonable that the species once nested on Otero Mesa.
Currently it is known only as a passage and wintering bird.
While preferring open grassland as a nesting site, in winter
the birds will use coastal areas and interior grasslands. The
interior winter range of the species is much more extensive and
it is within those areas that they gravitate toward grasslands.
On Otero Mesa they can be found anywhere but are often found feeding
in areas adjacent to and on towns of Blacktail Prairie Dogs. This
may be due to the presence of soils, which are easier to probe
when searching for invertebrates.
The current single-biggest threat to this species is habitat
alteration and degradation. Much of their nesting range has been
altered for farmland while much of their wintering range is grazing
land. Much of this grazing land is in poor shape, especially in
drought years. The current population is estimated at around 20,000
individuals and is continuing to decline. There is no estimate
at historic numbers but it is thought to have been in the range
of 500,000 plus.
Otero Mesa continues to be a very important area for all grassland
endemic birds including this one and degradation of this habitat
could be devastating to a whole host of birds with already depressed
numbers.
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