SLENDER-BILLED CURLEW: THE BIRD THAT JUST DISAPPEARS

The bird in the picture above might look like an ordinary curlew to the untrained eye, and from one perspective it is; however, there is one thing that is most certainly inordinary about it: the really small number of sightings and the really big amount of time between each one. The bird above is none other than the spectacular Numenius tenuriostris, or the Slender-Billed Curlew, a bird lost in time.

Discovery

The Slender Billed Curlew was first described by Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot in 1817 by a single bird found in Egypt; the next sighting of the Slender-Billed Curlew (after the first one) was almost a century after, when a Russian Ornithologist got a female and a nest of four eggs of the species by a hunter. Since then, sightings have been very rare.

Distribution

This majestic creature lives (or lived) in many places, mainly Europe and North Africa. Unfortunately, since it has possibly be going extinct since its discovery, there won't be more than 100 left, if there are any. 

A Map Of N.tenuriostris's distribution from Wikipedia

Blue:Extant (Non-Breeding)

Green:Extanct (Breeding)

Red: Probably Extinct

I am sorry for the almost 2-month-long break, I have kind of ran out of ideas and I was also enjoying my summer holidays. However, I will make sure to upload more frewuently from now on. See you!

Thank You For Reading!

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Bibliography and Sources

Wikipedia

Hellenic Ornithological Society's "Birds of Greece Europe and Cyprus"

-Aggelos Mantos