This is a fairly large wader though mid-sized as a member of the curlew genus. The English name is imitative of the bird's call. The genus nameNumenius is from Ancient Greeknoumenios, a bird mentioned by Hesychius. It is associated with the curlews because it appears to be derived from neos, "new" and mene "moon", referring to the crescent-shaped bill. The species namephaeopus is the Medieval Latin name for the bird, from Ancient Greek phaios, "dusky" and pous, "foot". It is in length, in wingspan, and in weight. It is mainly greyish brown, with a white back and rump, and a long curved bill with a kink rather than a smooth curve. It is generally wary. The usual call is a rippling whistle, prolonged into a trill for the song. The only similar common species over most of this bird's range are larger curlews. The whimbrel is smaller, has a shorter, decurved bill and has a central crown stripe and strong supercilia.
Subspecies
There are 5 subspecies:
N. p. islandicus – Brehm, C.L., 1831: breeds mainly in Iceland, but also in Greenland, Faroe Islands and Scotland; winters mainly in West Africa, but ranges from southwestern Europe to Benin and Togo
N. p. alboaxillaris – Lowe, 1921: found from western Kazakhstan to southwestern Siberia
N. p. rogachevae – Tomkovich, 2008: found in central Siberia
N. p. variegatus – : found in northeastern Siberia
Ecology
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 applies.