Chiuit

• Main Author: Rogers, Susan Fox
• Format: Book Part
• Language: English
• Published: Cornell University Press 2022
• Subjects: eskimo*; Nome; Alaska
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.7591/cornell/9781501762246.003.0015

This chapter recounts the author's birding trip to Nome, Alaska, where she looked for the Bristle-thighed Curlew. The most common call of the Bristle-thighed is a basic chiu-eet , which is why the Yupʻik Eskimo call them the Chiuit. The Curlew's song, however, is one that has been described in all of its layered complexity. Nuptial vocalizations include “Sweeping portamentos, dramatic frequency spikes, and multiple patterns of sequential frequency shifts.” Additionally, there is the low whistle “similar to warning beeps of dump trucks in reverse” and the complex whistle and the whine. Empty land is what the Curlew seems to prefer. When it is not in the expanse of Alaska in summer, it spends its winter on islands in Oceania and can be seen on beaches on Caroline Atoll or on lawns on Midway Atoll.