The long-billed dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus) is a medium-sized shorebird with a relatively long bill belonging to the sandpiper family, Scolopacidae. In breeding plumage, adults are characterized by a rufous head and underparts with a darker mottled back and a large white upper rump only seen in flight. They feed in various freshwater habitats with their bill underwater in a "sewing machine" motion and have a mating display where males chase females in flight. The genus, Limnodromus is Ancient Greek from limne, "marsh" and dromos, "racer". The specific scolopaceus is Neo-Latin for "snipe-like", from Latin scolopax, scolopacis, a snipe or woodcock. The English name is from Iroquois and was first recorded in 1841. The long-billed dowitcher is similar in appearance to the short-billed dowitcher and was only recognized as a separate species in 1950. Between the two, the best distinguishing field mark is their flight call, especially in winter, when the two species' plumage can be nearly identical. However, the two species differ ecologically in their habitat preferences and breeding locations. Long-billed dowitchers generally prefer freshwater habitats, and breed in northern Alaska and Siberia; their short-billed counterparts favor saltwater habitats and breed farther east, from southern Alaska across Canada to the maritime provinces.
Taxonomy The long-billed dowitcher is a bird in the order Charadriiformes, which includes shorebirds, gulls, and alcids. It is part of the Scolopacidae family, and it belongs to the Scolopacinae subfamily along with snipes and woodcocks. Its genus Limnodromus includes only two other species; the short-billed dowitcher and the Asian dowitcher. The long-billed dowitcher was first described by Thomas Say in 1823 under the name Limnodromus scolopacea. The taxonomy of the long-billed and short-billed dowitcher has presented difficulties in part due to the variability of the short-billed dowitcher. For around 100 years the long-billed dowitcher and short-billed dowitcher were recognized as two distinct species. By 1927 the long-billed dowitcher was made a sub-species of the short-billed dowitcher, as the western form, due to bird observations which were similar to both species linking the two geographically. It was not until Frank Pitelka published his monograph, in 1950, that the two dowitcher species were once again accepted as being two distinct species. Further research has shown that the two species are estimated to have diverged genetically more than four million years ago.
Description The long-billed dowitcher is a medium-sized, stocky sandpiper with a bill about twice the length of its head. In all plumages, the long-billed dowitcher has a whitish supercilium and dark loral stripe that continuous past the eye. The tail is barred black and white with the black being almost twice the width of the white and a large distinctive white rump which extends up to the middle of its back. Long-billed dowitcher are in breeding plumage from approximately May to late August or early September. In breeding plumage, adults are characterized by a dark crown on top of their head and a rufous neck, chest, and belly underneath with black bars on their breast and white barring on flanks when plumage is fresh. The older the feathers get the less the black bars may appear leaving the breast dark redish. The crown and the back are a mix of brown, black and buff markings. Wings and upper-back are mottled with black, buff, and white markings looking overall dark brown. When in the winter plumage the long-billed dowitcher is very difficult to distinguish in the field from the short-billed dowitcher. In non-breeding plumage, adults are drab grey, with darker upperparts and breast contrasting with paler white belly. The gray of the breast also gradually lightens as it reaches the chin. The juvenile plumage of the long-billed dowitcher is similar to that of the breeding adult except for being paler. Juvenile long-billed dowitcher can be distinguished from the short-billed dowitcher by the differences in the tertiary feathers. On the long-billed dowitcher these feathers are dark gray with narrow buff edges with internal markings so dull they seem to lack them altogether. In juvenile birds the upper parts are fringed chestnut rather than buffy brown and their uniformly gray breast is slightly demarcated from the pale rufous lower belly and breasts. The bill of the long-billed dowitcher ranges from 62 mm to 72 mm with males having bill lengths near the smaller scale reflecting their smaller body size. Bills are typically very straight and black becoming yellowish olive-green near the base and legs are also yellowish. Sexes are almost identical, with females being generally heavier and having longer wings and bill. Measurements:
Length: 11.4 inches (29 cm) Weight: 3.1–4.6 ounces (88–130 g) Wingspan: 18.5–19.3 inches (47–49 cm)
Habitat and distribution
Breeding In North America, the long-billed dowitcher breeds mainly throughout western and northern Alaska along the coast from Hooper Bay to w. Mackenzie and south to the foothills of Brooks Range. In this range, while nesting it greatly prefers wet, grass or sedge freshwater meadows but it is also sometimes confined to marshes and will move to lakes, ponds, or estuaries to forage after nesting. In eastern Siberia it breeds from the lower Yana River to Chukotka Peninsula and Anadyr Lowlands with an apparent westward expansion in Russia, also commonly nesting along Bering Sea and inland along rivers draining into the East Arctic Sea of Siberia.
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