What is "whimbrel"

Whimbrel \Whim"brel\, n. [Cf. Whimper.] (Zo["o]l) Any one of several species of small curlews, especially the European species (Numenius ph[ae]opus), called also Jack curlew, half curlew, stone curlew, and tang whaup. See Illustration in Appendix.

Hudsonian or, Eskimo, whimbreal, the Hudsonian curlew.

n. A large migratory wading bird, ''Numenius phaeopus'', of the family Scolopacidae, with a long downcurved bill.

The whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) is a wader in the large family Scolopacidae. It is one of the most widespread of the curlews, breeding across much of subarctic North America, Europe and Asia as far south as Scotland.

This is a migratory species wintering on coasts in Africa, South America, south Asia into Australasia and southern North America. It is also a coastal bird during migration. It is fairly gregarious outside the breeding season.