Near Extinction
At one time, the Eskimo Curlew may have been one of the most numerous shorebirds in North America with a population in the millions. As many as 2 million birds per year were killed near the end of the 19th century. The last confirmed sightings were in 1962 on Galveston Island, Texas (photographed) and on Barbados in 1963 (specimen). There was a reliable report of 23 birds in Texas in 1981, and more recent additional unconfirmed reports from Texas, Canada (1987), Argentina (1990), and Nova Scotia (2006). No confirmed record of this species has been reported in South America since 1939. Full details on all sightings up to 1986 are included in the on line edition of Eskimo Curlew: A Vanishing Species?
This species is fully protected in Argentina, the Brazil, Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Hunting has been outlawed since around 1916.
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