Notes on the Movements and Distribution of Little Curlew Numenius minutus in Northern Australia

Abstract

Little Curlew Numenius minutus arrive in north-western Australia in October but do not reach the grasslands at the south-east Gulf of Carpentaria until December. It is thought that these are the two major over-wintering areas for a population exceeding a quarter of a million (Smith 1971). Most Little Curlew leave Australia during April, those from the northwest going directly to Indonesia, those from the Gulf of Carpentaria probably stopping to feed in the Northern Territory.