Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus)

OTHER NAMES: N/A
Latin Etymology: Limnodromus ("marsh runner") griseus ("grey")

Moulting Short-billed Dowitchers (Limnodromus griseus) at Anchorage, Alaska - August 2024

Featured Subspecies: Limnodromus griseus caurinus
Weight: 73-155g  /  Length: 23-32cm  /  Wingspan: 46-56cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

Despite the seemingly clear cut naming difference between the long and short billed dowitchers, the differentiation is in reality no way near as decisive as the names would imply, and several more nuanced field marks such as patterning and shape are needed. Their preferred breeding habitat is in the Northern bogs, marshes and mudflats of Alaska and Canada.

Related Species:
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Scolopacidae
Genus: Limnodromus
SUBSPECIES: L. g. caurinus, L. g. hendersoni, L. g. griseus

 - Sighting Locations -

UNITED STATES 
Breeds in South-East Alaska, Winters on Southern Coast of the Lower 48
 - CHICAGO TO ALASKA ROADTRIP 2024: Seen in Alaska

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto

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Long-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus)

OTHER NAMES: N/A
Latin Etymology: Limnodromus ("marsh runner") scolopaceus ("snipe/woodcock")

                                     Winter plumage vagrant adult Long-billed Dowitcher at Rutland Water, Rutland - April 2016 

Featured Subspecies: N/A
Weight: 90-135g  /  Length: 23-30cm  /  Wingspan: 46-52cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

The Long-billed Dowitcher is a wading bird primarily from North America and Eastern Siberia that resembles in many ways a smaller version of the godwit species found in the UK. Over here it is a rare vagrant, although at the point I saw this it seems to have been having a slight inundation - this was the second individual of this species to turn up in adjacent counties to Northants within two weeks, and I'm glad I went for this one; the first was considerably more difficult to get to with considerably more distant views!

Related Species:
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Scolopacidae
Genus: Limnodromus
Subspecies: none - monotypic

 - Sighting Locations -

UNITED KINGDOM - Rare and occassional vagrant

 - Single vagrant bird seen at Rutland Water in February 2016

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto .