photo by Phil Swanson

Numenius phaeopus
L 17 1/2″(45 cm).

Song or calls:
Loud “whi whi whi whi whi” whistle.

Description: Sexes similar. Bold facial pattern of a striped crown and dark eyeline. Long decurved bill. Brown above with buffy mottling; pale below with buffy streaking on neck, breast, and sides.

Habitat: Migrants can be found on flooded grasslands, sandbars, mudflats and shorelines.

Where in Nebraska: Rare but a regular spring migrant primarily during May.

Field Notes: Whimbrels nest in the Arctic tundra, where they scrape out nests in short vegetation.

Fun Facts: When the chicks hatch they are fully feathered and may leave the nest within one to two hours of hatching.

 
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