The eastern curlew travels from Siberia to Australia and is known for its long, down-curved bill.
Eastern curlews breed in northeastern Siberia and migrate along the East Asian–Australasian Flyway to coastal Australia. They use intertidal mudflats and estuaries, where their long bills probe for crabs, mollusks, and other invertebrates.
The species is the largest shorebird regularly found in Australia. Its migration depends on a chain of coastal wetlands across East Asia, so the loss of stopover habitat can affect birds thousands of kilometres away.
The eastern curlew is critically endangered. It is sometimes confused with the Eurasian curlew, but the eastern species has a different range and is especially associated with the Australasian flyway.