The impending disaster, it looms,
And the whole of the village is doomed…
I heard the cry of the seven whistlers
(Iron Maiden, The Prophecy)
In English folklore, the “seven whistlers” are a spectral night-flight of seven birds whose eerie call is considered a harbinger of death and disaster. In some variations, the birds are counted as six in number, flying in perpetual search of the seventh. When the seventh is found and joins their flight, the world ends. The lyrics to Iron Maiden’s “The Prophecy” is a recent addition to references to the seven whistlers in English literature. Often identified as Eurasian Curlew (Numenius arquata), the seven whistlers are more likely Whimbrel (N. phaeopus), which during migration (often at night) utter a tittering call of 5 to 7 rolling notes “titti-titti-titti-titti-titti-tit”, the origin of the species’ old English name of “seven-whistler”.
Whether Eurasian Curlew or Whimbrel, the cry of the seven whistlers is increasingly a harbinger of their own decline. Of the eight species of curlew (Numenius) in the world, five are considered globally at risk of extinction according to the IUCN Red List, with two quite possibly already extinct (Eskimo Curlew N. borealis, and Slender-billed Curlew N. tenuirostris). To mark this sombre situation, April 21 is designated as World Curlew Day. It is a grass-roots initiative, supported by major environmental organisations, to raise awareness of the plight of curlews and to encourage activities to help them.
Left: Whimbrel at Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in United States. Photo: Shiloh Schulte. Right: Flock of Whimbrels foraging at Rio Maipo, WHSRN Site in Chile. Photo: Diego Luna Quevedo.
The plight of the Eskimo Curlew has captured the attention of ornithologists in the Americas for more than a century. During the latter half of the 19th Century, the species’ population plummeted from hundreds of thousands of birds to sporadic sightings of a few, and the downward spiral continued during the 20th Century, with the last documented record in 1963. Despite occasional undocumented reports, few can believe the species still survives. Lost to the world are the sounds of the Eskimo Curlew. There are no recordings of the species’ vocalizations (one does exist for the likely-extinct Slender-billed Curlew). What’s known of the species’ vocalizations is based on descriptions in old literature, and does not include the song (its breeding-display vocalizations). Also lost is whatever role the species may have played in the culture, traditions and folklore of original peoples throughout the Americas.
While the former habits of the Eskimo Curlew are reasonably well documented in North America, the same cannot be said of its former range in South America. The species is believed to have wintered primarily in the Pampas, and as such would most likely have migrated in large numbers through Paraguay. And yet, knowledge of the species in the country is virtually restricted to the comments of Feliz de Azara, writing in 1805, who noted “on passage, arriving in September in groups of 10 to 20, which on taking flight call bibi. I have found it in cleared grounds, both dry and wet, but never in lagoons or rivers”. Two hundred years’ ago I may have been able to hear Eskimo Curlews migrating over my home in Asunción, Paraguay, as I still can their close relative the Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda). Unfortunately I’ll never know.
Drawing of four Eskimo Curlews made by Pablo Michelutti, on the same day of the last recorded sighting of the species in South America. Read the story of this important sighting in the words of Pablo here: https://whsrn.org/a-day-in-the-life-of-the-eskimo-curlew/
While it’s almost certainly too late for the Eskimo Curlew, it’s not too late for the original seven whistler, the Whimbrel. However, action is needed now. Within the Americas Atlantic Flyway, Whimbrel numbers are in a precipitous decline, dropping nearly 50% in 15 years. This is likely the result of habitat loss and degradation, and unsustainable levels of hunting in the Caribbean basin. Fortunately, the shorebird conservation and research community is heeding the seven whistler, taking steps to ensure that it’s not a harbinger of its own doom.
Critical habitat for Whimbrel is protected at a number of WHSRN sites, such as the Maryland-Virginia Barrier Islands, Georgia Barrier Islands, Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge (all in USA), Reentrâncias Maranhenses in Brazil, and Bigi Pan in Suriname. And nominations for new WHSRN sites that will help safeguard habitat are in preparation from Canada to Venezuela and French Guiana.
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation selected Whimbrel as one of three “umbrella” species (along with American Oystercatcher and Red Knot) to spearhead efforts to reverse the widespread declines of shorebirds as part of the Atlantic Flyway Shorebird Initiative. A working group has been formed, to build upon the conservation blueprint developed for the species over a decade ago.
Multiple efforts are underway to address hunting as a threat, with important progress in reducing illegal hunting, and the implementation of voluntary and legal restrictions (in countries where shorebird hunting is legal). And a coalition of partners, including Manomet, is leading efforts to better understand and address other drivers of decline, through studying the migration ecology, routes and key stopover sites for the species. But perhaps the greatest source of hope for Whimbrel conservation was the recent discovery of a nocturnal roost of 20,000 birds on Deveaux Bank, South Carolina, the largest such concentration known globally, and in the words of Scott Weidensaul “a glimpse of a vanished time when the continent surged with great shorebird flocks”. While the call of six or seven Whimbrel may be an omen of bad luck, the sound of 20,000 has to be one of promise for the future.
