Short-billed Dowitcher

Limnodromus griseus Order: CHARADRIIFORMES Family: Sandpipers (Scolopacidae)
Short-billed Dowitcher Portrait
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Short-billed Dowitcher Variations:

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General

Short-billed Dowitcher: Large sandpiper with gray, black, brown and red-brown mottled upperparts, white rump, and red-brown underparts with heavy spots and bars (east and west coast birds have more heavily barred and spotted, paler underparts and usually show white bellies). Bill is long, straight, and dark. Legs are long and dark yellow-green. Sexes are similar. East and west coast birds winter adult is gray with fewer spots below, and shows plain white on belly. Juvenile resembles breeding adult but is much paler and has white belly.

Range and Habitat

Short-billed Dowitcher: Breeds in southern Alaska, central interior Canada, and northern Quebec. Spends winters along coasts of California and Virginia southward. Preferred habitats include mudflats, creeks, salt marshes, and tidal estuaries.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"tu-tu-tu"

Interesting Facts

 Until 1950, the Short-billed Dowitcher and Long-billed Dowitcher were considered to be one species.

 The name of this bird can be somewhat misleading, as its bill is only short in comparison with the Long-billed Dowitcher.

 The nest and eggs of this species eluded discovery until 1906, and even that information was overlooked for a long while because they were attributed to the Long-billed Dowitcher.

 A group of sandpipers has many collective nouns, including a "bind", "contradiction", "fling", "hill", and "time-step" of sandpipers.



Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Short-billed Dowitcher

Related Birds

Stilt Sandpiper
Jack Snipe
Long-billed Dowitcher
Red Phalarope
Wilson's Snipe
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Family Sandpiper (Scolopacidae)_blue
Species Limnodromus griseus
Length10.5 - 12 Inches
Wingspan20 Inches

Short-billed Dowitcher

Short-billed Dowitcher Breeding Adult: Large sandpiper, upperparts mottled gray, black, brown and red-brown, white rump, red-brown underparts with heavy spots, and bars (east and west coast birds have heavier barred and spotted, paler underparts and often show white bellies). Strong direct flight.

● Song: "tu-tu-tu"

● Foraging & Feeding: Short-billed Dowitcher: Diet consists mostly of insects, but also eats eggs of king and horseshoe crabs; probes mud by jabbing its long bill up and down.

● Breeding & nesting: Short-billed Dowitcher: Four brown-speckled, buff green or brown eggs are laid in a ground depression lined with grass and moss. Eggs are incubated for 21 days by the female.

● Similar species: Short-billed Dowitcher: Long-billed Dowitcher has barred flanks, rust-brown belly, thin, white wing stripes visible in flight, and longer bill.

Flight Pattern

Strong powerful direct flight.
Short-billed Dowitcher Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Short-billed Dowitcher: Breeds in southern Alaska, central interior Canada, and northern Quebec. Spends winters along coasts of California and Virginia southward. Preferred habitats include mudflats, creeks, salt marshes, and tidal estuaries.
BreedingMonogamous, Colonial
Population
MigrationMigratory
Weight3.8 Ounces