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Long-billed Dowitcher - Limnodromus scolopaceus

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Scolopacidae
Genus: Limnodromus

ICUN Redlist - World Status:

Least Concern

Description

The long-billed dowitcher is 11-12 inches in length. It has a long, straight black bill; long, green legs; a white lower back and rump; and white eyebrows. In the summer, adults have reddish underparts, bars on their breasts and sides, and reddish edges on the feathers on their uppersides. Winter dowitchers are gray. Males and females look alike, but females are slightly larger and have a longer bill.

Range

map The long-billed dowitcher breeds in western Alaska and northwestern Canada. It winters along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts from Washington and Virginia south to Mexico.

Habitat

During breeding season, the long-billed dowitcher lives on the tundra. During migration and in the winter, the long-billed dowitcher is found on mudflats, marshes, and at the edge of freshwater ponds and marshes.

Diet

The long-billed dowitcher uses its long bill to poke in the mud and find food. The long-billed dowitcher looks like a sewing machine as its long bill probes up and down in the mud! Its diet includes insect larvae, earthworms, crustaceans, moss, plant parts, seeds, and snails.

Life Cycle

The female long-billed dowitcher lays four eggs in a grass or leaf-lined nest on the ground. Both the male and female incubate the eggs. The female starts incubating the eggs while the male chases off intruders. Later, the male takes over and incubates the eggs up until the time they hatch three weeks after being laid. He then takes care of the chicks until they fledge.

Behavior

The long-billed dowitcher is very aggressive in defending its territory.

Audio Credit: xeno-canto.org Robin Carter