The Eskimo Curlew was once a common sight at stopover locations in the Great Plains in spring and in Atlantic Canada in fall. The species' current status is unknown; at best it is exceedingly rare and at worst, it is extinct. It bred in the tundra of the Northwest Territories and wintered in the pampas of Argentina, but recent searches in both areas have yielded no confirmed sightings. The last specimen obtained was a bird shot in Barbados in 1963. Unregulated market hunting brought this species to the brink of extinction and, although no longer hunted, populations have not recovered. The Eskimo Curlew was first assessed as Endangered by the Committee on the Status of Wildlife in Canada in 1978 (COSEWIC 2009i). It was later listed as such under the Species at Risk Act. This species has been identified as a priority for conservation and/or stewardship in one or more Bird Conservation Region Strategies in Canada.
The so-called "dough birds", Eskimo Curlews were considered a delicacy and were killed by the thousands at migratory stopover sites both in the interior and along the east coast of North America. When hunting was regulated in 1916, recovery of this species may have been limited due to land use changes in the North American prairies and on the wintering grounds in the South American pampas (Environment Canada 2007). For information on the legal status of this species under the Species at Risk Act (SARA) and to view the Recovery Strategy, see the SARA Registry.
Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:
Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.
