Short-billed Dowitcher

(Limnodromus griseus) (SBDO)

Photographic Identification Guide

Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus) (SBDO) is a medium-sized, long-billed shorebird that feeds in a distinctive fashion, with tail up, head down and bill vertically probing up and down like a sewing machine. There are three SBDO subspecies breeding in three separate areas of subarctic Canada as well as southern Alaska, primarily in muskeg and taiga habitat. Dowitchers migrate throughout the continent; most birds winter along coasts, from southeastern US and Texas Gulf coast to central America and as far south as the northern coast of Brazil. In the West, dowitchers winter along the California coast all the way to the Peruvian coast.

The three SBDO subspecies are divided geographically:

The eastern Limnodromus griseus griseus, breeds along the southeast coast of Hudson Bay and east into the muskegs of central Ungava and Labrador. This is the subspecies that we see by default in New England, during both spring and fall migration.
The Midwestern L. g. hendersoni, breeds in northern Alberta and Saskatchewan with small populations in Manitoba as well. Every fall a few are seen in New England during migration.
The western L. g. caurinus, nests in southern Alaska and northwestern British Columbia.

In this guide we cover the two subspecies that occur on the East Coast during migration, L. g. griseus and L. g. hendersoni. L. g. caurinus migrates and winters on the West Coast and is not covered here.

Another species, Long-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus), is primarily a western species but frequently occurs in the East. Bill lengths and other features among the dowitcher species and subspecies overlap; winter plumages are similar. Therefore, the dowitcher group presents the greatest species identification challenges among shorebirds. By providing examples and side-by-side comparisons, where possible, we aim for relatively confident identification of individuals. But there are many cases, particularly in winter, when a dowitcher is just called a “dowitcher.”

In this guide, we cover the features, in order of importance, to look for on these birds. Because some of these birds spend parts of the year in the northern and southern hemispheres, the correct technical terms for the plumage stages—basic and alternate—help avoid the confusion of seasonal terminology.

visual gallery

species account

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Fig. 1. Short-billed Dowitcher. Winter (basic) plumage. Note flat back, slim belly and slight kink in the long bill. Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary, TX. 13 April 2017.
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Fig. 2. Short-billed Dowitchers. Molting to spring (alternate) plumage. Note pale undertail (vent) on eastern (griseus) birds. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, NJ. 27 April 2023.
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Fig. 3. Short-billed Dowitchers. Spring (alternate) plumage. Note pale undertail (vent) on all. Belle Isle Marsh Reservation, East Boston, MA. 17 May 2016.
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Fig. 4. Short-billed Dowitcher. Spring (alternate) plumage. Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, Newburyport, MA. 19 May 2021.
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Fig. 5. Comparison of eastern griseus with Midwestern hendersoni Short-billed Dowitchers. Rumney Marsh Reservation, Revere, MA. 24 July 2022.
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Fig. 6. Short-billed Dowitcher hendersoni subspecies details. Summer (alternate) plumage. Note lightly spotted breast and neck, and colorful undersides extending to the undertail. Napatree Point, RI. 29 July 2022.
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Fig. 7. Short-billed Dowitchers. Worn summer (alternate) plumage. Point of Pines, Revere, MA. 20 July 2014.
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Fig. 8. Short-billed Dowitcher. Summer (alternate) mantle feathers with worn margins appear very dark. Point of Pines, Revere, MA. 20 July 2014.
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Fig. 9. Short-billed Dowitchers. Left: adult in worn summer (alternate) plumage. Right: juvenile with fresh colorful plumage. Lewis Lake, Winthrop, MA. 7 August 2014.
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Fig. 10. Short-billed Dowitchers. Left: dark summer adult, alternate plumage. Right: fresh juvenile. Note contrast in body shapes. Dekorte Park, Bergen, NJ. 13 August 2012.
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Fig. 11. Short-billed Dowitcher. Worn summer (alternate) plumage with gray winter (basic) feathers coming in. Lewis Lake, Winthrop, MA. 7 August 2014.
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Fig. 12. Short-billed Dowitcher juveniles with fresh, warm-hued plumage. Note intricate inner markings in tertial feathers (long feathers lying on top of tail). Rumney Marsh Reservation, Revere, MA. 21 August 2016.
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Fig. 13. Short-billed Dowitcher juveniles. Note lightly spotted peach-colored breast and intricate tertial feathers pattern. Rumney Marsh Reservation, Revere, MA. 21 August 2016.
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Fig. 14. Short-billed Dowitcher juvenile molting to winter (basic) plumage. Characteristic juvenile tertial feathers (inset) still present. Winthrop Beach, Winthrop, MA. 9 October 2017.
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Fig. 15. Short-billed Dowitcher juvenile. Note contrast in plumage tracts as bird molts older juvenile feathers, replacing them with fresh winter (basic) feathers. Winthrop Beach, Winthrop, MA. 9 October 2017.
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Fig. 16. Short-billed Dowitchers. Plumage details visible in flight. Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, Newburyport, MA. 20 August 2022.
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Fig. 17. Short-billed Dowitchers in flight. Note white stripe up center of back, pale secondary tips and long bill. Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, Newburyport, MA. 19 May 2021.
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Fig. 18. Short-billed Dowitcher. Spring (alternate) plumage, displaying underwing. Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, Newburyport, MA. 19 May 2021.
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Fig. 19. Short-billed Dowitchers (SBDO) in flight. Barred patagium is a good field mark for separating SBDO from Long-billed Dowitcher. Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, Newburyport, MA. 20 August 2022.
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Fig. 20. Distinctive tertial patterns of juvenile Short-billed and Long- billed Dowitchers shown in inserts. Quincy, Arlington, MA. Fall.
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Fig. 21. Comparison of Short-billed Dowitchers and Red Knots. Juvenile Red Knots are pale gray with dark submarginal lines on back (mantle) feathers. Plymouth Beach, Plymouth, MA. 5 September 2023.
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Fig. 22. Comparison of Short-billed Dowitchers and Stilt Sandpiper. Note taller, yellowish legs and shorter, downcurved bill of Stilt Sandpiper. Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, Newburyport, MA. 17 July 2017.
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Fig. 23. Comparison of Short-billed Dowitchers with Dunlin and Stilt Sandpiper. Compare bill lengths and shapes, belly markings and leg colors. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, NJ. 26 April 2023.
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Fig. 24. Shorebirds in flight. Note white stripe up back of dowitcher vs. white rump and pale barred tail of Stilt Sandpipers. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, NJ. 27 April 2023.
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Fig. 25. Comparison of Short-billed Dowitchers and Dunlins in flight. Note barred patagium (underwing shoulder area) on dowitchers. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, NJ. 4 May 2023.
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Fig. 26. Greater Yellowlegs and Short-billed Dowitchers roosting together. Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, Newburyport, MA. 15 September 2015.
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Fig. 27. Lesser Yellowlegs juvenile, Greater Yellowlegs molting from summer (alternate) to winter (basic) plumage, Short-billed Dowitcher juvenile. Quincy, MA. 25 August 2015.

The photos in this species account are arranged in this order:

Basic: winter plumage, roughly October to February.

SBDO begins the gradual molt to winter (basic) plumage in July and usually completes it by the end of the calendar year; see Fig. 1.

Alternate: first spring and summer after hatch year or adult breeding plumage, mid-February to August.

Beginning in spring, winter (basic) feathers on SBDO are gradually replaced by spring (alternate) feathers; see Fig. 2, Fig. 3, Fig. 4. By midsummer, alternate feathers begin to show wear and are gradually replaced by winter (basic) plumage; see Fig. 11.

Juvenile: young birds, recently hatched, June to October.

The distinctive juvenile feathers are acquired on the breeding grounds immediately after the natal down is shed and before the young begin their southbound migration; see Fig. 12. In the fall, juvenile feathers begin to be replaced by winter (basic) plumage; see Fig. 15.

Size and weight

The largest individuals of SBDO are in the West (subspecies L. g. caurinus) and the smallest in the East (subspecies L. G. griseus) with the Midwestern subspecies (L. g. hendersoni) in between. Females are larger and have longer bills.

Body length:

9–10 in. (23–25 cm)

Wingspan:

18–20.5 in. (46–52 cm)

Bill length:

2–2.5 in. (51–64 mm)

Weight:

2.9–4.6 oz. (81–129 g)

Calls

On the breeding grounds, both male and female Short-billed Dowitchers sing an elaborate song as they fly above the nesting territory. During migration, they are well known for their rapid tu-tu-tu call as they take off or fly over. This call, a slightly faster and sharper version of the Lesser Yellowlegs call, is one of the most diagnostic characteristics to separate this species from Long-billed Dowitcher.

Calls in Brevard Cty, FL, 2016:

Calls in Churchill, MB, 2010:

Plumage and other characteristics

Irrespective of species, subspecies or season, dowitchers are among the most distinctive of all shorebirds. Notable features that set them apart from other shorebirds:

Chunky body, short legs and long bill usually held vertically as it is thrust into mud, sewing-machinelike; see Fig. 2.
Dark cap contrasting with long, thick eyebrow (supercilium); see Fig. 4.
Spring (alternate) plumage is speckled and warm colored, ranging from buff to peach to deep orange; see Fig. 3, Fig. 4.
Summer (alternate) plumage is dark brown and speckled above, often peach-colored and spotted on the neck and breast; see Fig. 7.
Winter (basic) plumage is mousy gray-brown; see Fig. 1.
Legs and bill are yellow-gray to dark green.
In flight: SBDO has a pale trailing edge to its wings (secondary tips), a gray barred tail, and a white stripe up center of the back; see Fig. 16, Fig. 17.

Winter (basic) mantle feathers are gray with sharp dark centers and very narrow pale margins. Overall, upperparts (mantle) plumage is uniformly gray with a faint gray hood over the head, neck and down the upper breast. The chin and throat are whitish. The lower breast and belly have diffuse spotting; see Fig. 1.

In the spring, alternate cinnamon and black feathers begin to replace the winter (basic) mantle feathers. The upper breast, neck and head begin to acquire a buffy suffusion; see Fig. 2, Fig. 3.

Full alternate back (mantle) in griseus subspecies, in May and later, consists of intricately patterned cinnamon, black and dark brown feathers. The breast, neck and face are peach-colored. There is a brown cap and a brown line through the eye; see Fig. 3, Fig. 4.

In hendersoni subspecies in spring and summer, the entire underside becomes cinnamon- or peach-colored. The color extends to the undertail; see Fig. 2, Fig. 5, Fig. 6.

Alternate plumage on birds reaching their first year of life (fledged the previous summer) is less colorful than alternate plumage on breeding-age birds two years old or older.

Spring (alternate) and summer (alternate) are the same plumage; however, as seasons advance, feather margins become worn and the plumage looks different.

In summer, alternate back (mantle) feather lose much of their pale and cinnamon edging. On adult birds returning from the Arctic in July and early August, worn mantle feathers look dark, almost black; see Fig. 7, Fig. 8, Fig. 9.

In August, summer (alternate) feathers begin to be replaced by gray winter (basic) feathers. Cinnamon coloration on the head and underparts fades and new pale feathers with light spotting or barring grow in; see Fig. 11.

Newly fledged birds acquire juvenile plumage that is distinctive. The entire young bird is suffused in pale tones of orange-buff; see Fig. 12. Tertial feathers, the long feathers that nearly cover the primaries on a resting bird, are blackish-brown with a complex orange zigzag inner pattern; see Fig. 13, Fig. 14, Fig. 20.

As fall advances, juvenile birds as well as adults slowly molt into the evenly gray winter (basic) plumage; see Fig. 14, Fig 15.

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Breeding range, migration, wintering range, habitat

SBDO breeding areas have a patchy distribution in Canadian provinces and Alaska, just at the edge of arctic tundra. The nesting habitat encompasses the transition zone between boreal woodlands and tundra with scattered lakes and wetlands.

On the nesting grounds, SBDO forages on insects, snails, spiders and worms.

During fall migration, SBDO is a highly coastal species. There are few inland fall records for the species.

In migration and during the winter, SBDO prefers to forage in saltwater marshes, tidal flats and beaches, sometimes in sewage ponds or flooded agricultural fields. Its food consists of aquatic invertebrates, such as snails and other mollusks, as well as crustaceans and worms.

During migration, at higher tides, SBDO roosts in dense flocks in salt marshes.

Eastern subspecies (Limnodromus griseus griseus):
After egg-laying in June and early July, most females fatten up quickly and depart the breeding grounds. Males stay behind to incubate and tend to the young for a short while, then fly east to areas in eastern Canada before heading south. Young birds appear in a third migratory wave on the northeast US coast and maritime Canada by mid-August.

Midwestern subspecies (L. g. hendersoni):
In July, females depart breeding areas first, followed by males and then the young. The primary direction of migration is southeast to the mid-Atlantic coast. Hendersoni dowitchers are scarce in New England in the fall, although they can often be found if large flocks are searched carefully.

Eastern and midwestern subspecies in the fall:
Once the birds have foraged on coastal mudflats and beaches and built up sufficient fat reserves, most depart from the Canadian Maritimes and the US Atlantic coast, generally migrating along coastal marshes but sometimes directly over the Atlantic Ocean, until they reach southern and south-central US coastal locations, the Caribbean, Central America coasts and northern South America.

Although many migrate throughout the interior of the continent, most are coastal during the fall passage, stopping at oceanfront beaches and mudflats to fatten up before continuing their migration farther south.

Western subspecies (L. g. caurinus) in the fall migrates and winters primarily along the Pacific coast from California to Peru.

In spring, migrant Short-billed Dowitchers begin to depart South America in March. Eastern and midwestern northward-bound flocks gather at the shallow edges of Delaware Bay and on Long Island, NY.

From the mid-Atlantic coast, the mid-western subspecies (L. g. hendersoni) flies directly northwest to Manitoba and farther west. Spring sightings of this subspecies along the north Atlantic shore are virtually unknown.

In mid-May, the eastern subspecies (L. g. griseus) is briefly widespread on the coast, and sometimes in farm fields, of the northeast US before heading north toward Labrador, Ungava and southeastern Hudson Bay breeding areas.

Similar species

SBDO compared to LBDO

Short-billed Dowitcher (SBDO) and Long-billed Dowitcher (LBDO) are so similar in most plumages that they were considered conspecific until about the 1950s. Although LBDO is, on average, larger and longer-billed than SBDO and also brighter and more colorful in spring and summer (alternate) plumage, there is overlap in bill length and body size, as well as similarity of coloration of LBDO with one of the subspecies (L. g. hendersoni) of SBDO. We provide as much information as possible to help with dowitcher species identification. Distinguishing features are given in the order of usefulness. In most cases, no single feature is sufficient for species identification; use multiple features to determine species. When in doubt, “dowitcher species” is a suitable label.

Note the following:

Tertials (long feathers that nearly cover the primaries on a resting bird)

The easiest time to distinguish SBDO from LBDO is when they are in juvenile plumage. SBDO juveniles are suffused in warm orange-buff hues and have the characteristic scaly back (mantle) pattern of all juvenile shorebirds. Tertial feathers are blackish-brown with complex inner orange zigzag markings; see Fig. 12, Fig. 13, Fig. 14. LBDO juveniles have a more subdued brown dorsal pattern. The tertials are plain gray-brown with narrow pale margins; see Fig. 20.

Calls

SBDO calls are rapid tu-tu-tu as it takes flight, sometimes while on the ground. LBDO makes a high-pitched single or repeated keek call as it flies off.

Patagium (underwing shoulder area close to the body)

SBDO has mostly barred underwings, especially at the shoulder area; see Fig. 18, Fig. 19, Fig. 25. LBDO in flight displays a clear, unbarred area on the patagium.

Plumage - spring and summer (alternate)

The predominant subspecies of SBDO in the East ( Limnodromus griseus griseus ) has peach-tinted underparts from March until August. This color extends to mid-belly at the most. The undertail (vent) is pale; see Fig. 2, Fig. 3 and Fig. 5.
Midwestern ( L. g. hendersoni ) dowitchers display rich peach or orange underparts all the way to the undertail (vent) area; see Fig. 5 and Fig. 6.
LBDO is a deep chestnut on the underparts, all the way to the undertail (vent).
At close range: SBDO breast and belly feathers have orange margins. LBDO breast and belly feathers are brown and chestnut with white margins.

Plumage; winter (basic)

SBDO back (mantle) is gray. Each feather is evenly gray, bisected by a sharp dark central shaft; see Fig. 1.
LBDO back (mantle) feathers are also gray, but have smudged, slightly darker centers, also bisected by dark central shafts.
SBDO chin and throat are whitish, with some diffuse gray speckling on the upper breast.
LBDO breast and neck are evenly gray.

Body shape

SBDO is slimmer and smaller.
LBDO is fat and chunky. The conventional description is that of a bird that “swallowed a grapefruit.”
However, see Fig. 10. The left bird is the slimmer of the two. It is almost certainly an SBDO. The right bird, a juvenile, is a very chunky SBDO based on its tertial pattern. Clearly though, it “swallowed a grapefruit” Do not depend on a single feature to distinguish species.

Bill length and shape

Bill length is not a reliable method of separating SBDO from LBDO. In general, females have longer bills than males.
SBDO bill has a slight kink at about two-thirds of the length out; see Fig. 11. The bill is tubular and somewhat blunt. -LBDO bill is straight or slightly and evenly curved throughout. It is thicker-based, more tapered and pointed.

Head shape and characteristics

LBDO forehead is flatter; SBDO forehead is steeper and more angled down to the bill.
SBDO eyebrow (supercilium) is thick and arched; see Fig. 4.
LBDO supercilium is narrower and shorter and appears straighter.
LBDO has a more prominent pale arc under the eye.

Habitat

SBDO prefers to feed in tidal and saline areas. LBDO often is found in fresh water areas. These habitat preferences are by no means definitively indicative of species.

Some additional helpful comparison images for the two species are in the Long-billed Dowitcher species account.

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SBDO compared to REKN

Short-billed Dowitcher (SBDO) and Red Knot (REKN) have similar body shape and size; REKN is usually the chunkier of the two. Spring and summer (alternate) plumage for these birds is colorful and winter (basic) plumage is gray or brownish gray.

Note the following:

SBDO bill is twice as long as REKN bill.
SBDO head, neck and breast in spring and summer (alternate) plumage are rich and rusty, speckled with black and orange; see Fig. 4. Alternate plumage REKN is unpatterned cinnamon on head, neck and belly; see REKN Fig. 4.
Worn summer (alternate) SBDO plumage is usually much darker than REKN at a similar stage.
SBDO juvenile is colorful and specked rusty and brown with conspicuous orange squiggles on the tertial feathers (the longest feathers lying on top of the primaries and tail when resting); see Fig. 13, Fig. 14. REKN juvenile plumage is subdued but distinctive with pale gray back (mantle) feathers with submarginal dark lines (narrow dark lines paralleling pale feather margins); see Fig. 21 and REKN Fig. 9.
SBDO seen in flight has a gray-barred tail, a narrow white stripe up the center of the back and pale secondary tips; see Fig. 16 and Fig 17. REKN in flight has a pale barred tail, gray back and a pale wing stripe nearly the whole length of the wing; see REKN Fig. 12.

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SBDO compared to STSA

Short-billed Dowitcher (SBDO) and Stilt Sandpiper (STSA) have somewhat similar long bills and feeding motions, their bills poking vertically, sewing-machine fashion, in shallow water and mud; see Fig. 22, Fig. 23.

Note the following:

In all plumages, SBDO is browner, STSA is grayer.
SBDO is chunkier and larger, STSA smaller and slimmer.
SBDO bill is longer and basically straight. STSA bill is somewhat slimmer and noticeably down-curved near the tip.
STSA legs are yellowish green, usually paler than the dark greenish legs of SBDO.
For in-flight comparisons, see Fig. 24. SBDO has a prominent white stripe up the center of the back and pale tips to the rear inner half of the wings (secondary flight feathers) as seen from above. STSA has a barred tip to the tail and mostly white rump; the wings are gray with a faint wing stripe.

Spring and summer (alternate plumage)

SBDO neck, chest and belly are peach-tinted and spotted.
STSA neck and chest are pale and spotted with dark gray. The belly is heavily barred.
SBDO head and face are cinnamon with a dark line through the eye and a pale eyebrow (supercilium).
STSA face is pale with a rufous patch through the eye and on the crown and a bold pale eyebrow (supercilium).

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SBDO compared to DUNL

Short-billed Dowitcher (SBDO) is much larger than Dunlin (DUNL) and has a proportionally longer bill. DUNL has a distinct down-curve to the bill.

Note the following:

Spring and summer (alternate) plumage: SBDO has speckled buffy or cinnamon head, neck and breast; the back (mantle) is speckled brown, black, rusty and white. DUNL has a rusty crown and speckled rufous and black back (mantle) with a black belly; see Fig. 23.
In-flight comparisons: SBDO has prominent white stripe up the center of the back and pale tips to rear inner half of the wings (secondary flight feathers) as seen from above; see Fig. 16, Fig 17. DUNL has a dark-centered tail with white edges, and prominent white wing stripes; see Fig. 24, Fig. 25.

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SBDO compared to yellowlegs

Compared to either yellowlegs species, Short-billed Dowitcher (SBDO) is browner, chunkier and shorter-legged; see Fig. 26, Fig. 27.

Note the following:

SBDO is smaller than Greater Yellowlegs, nearly the same body size as Lesser Yellowlegs.
SBDO bill is tubular and blunt-tipped. Both yellowlegs bills are tapered and pointed. Greater Yellowlegs often has a slightly upcurved bill.
The main facial feature of SBDO is a prominent eyebrow (supercilium) and a prominent cap; for both yellowlegs the prominent facial feature is a white eyering.
In most plumages, yellowlegs are gray above with white spotting and white underneath with some gray barring. SBDO in spring, summer and fall (alternate and molting) plumage has a mix of brown, rusty and gray feathers above and buffy or pale rufous with speckling below.
In flight, SBDO has a prominent white stripe up the center of the back and pale tips to the rear inner half of the wings (secondary flight feathers) as seen from above. Yellowlegs has a faintly barred white tail and all-gray wings; see Fig. 24.

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