Dowitcher (Long-billed)

A long-billed shorebird recognizable for both its distinctive profile and sewing machine-like feeding action, the Long-billed Dowitcher is most common west of the Mississippi.

Adults have yellowish legs and a long straight dark bill. The body is dark brown on top and reddish underneath with spotted throat and breast, bars on flanks. The tail has a black and white barred pattern. The winter plumage of both an adult and a juvenile is largely grey.

During migration and winter, Long-billed Dowitchers are usually found on fresh water marshes and sometimes in coastal areas. They are often found on drying lakeshores. In coastal habitats, they are usually in small pools with salt-marsh vegetation. They breed farther north and west than Short-billed, in grass- or sedge-dominated tundra marshes in Arctic coastal regions in Alaska.


Photographed at Tigertail, Marco, FL