Dowitcher
Genus of birds
The three dowitchers are medium-sized long-billed wading birds in the genus Limnodromus. The English name "dowitcher" is from Iroquois, recorded in English by the 1830s.
They resemble godwits in body and bill shape, and the reddish underparts in summer, but are much shorter legged, more like snipes, to which they are more closely related. All three are strongly migratory.
The two North American species are difficult to separate in most plumages, and were considered a single species for many years. The Asian bird is rare and not well known.
01Taxonomy
The genus Limnodromus was introduced in 1833 by the German naturalist Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied to accommodate a single species, the short-billed dowitcher. The name combines the Ancient Greek limnē meaning "marsh" with -dromos meaning "-racer" or "-runner".
The dowitcher species are:
| Common name | Scientific name and subspecies | Range | Size and ecology | IUCN status and estimated population |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short-billed dowitcher | Limnodromus griseus (Gmelin, JF, 1789) Three subspecies |
North America, Central America, the Caribbean, and northern South America |
Size: Habitat: Diet: |
VU |
| Long-billed dowitcher | Limnodromus scolopaceus (Say, 1822) |
North America |
Size: Habitat: Diet: |
NT |
| Asian dowitcher | Limnodromus semipalmatus (Blyth, 1848) |
Siberia and Manchuria. | Size: Habitat: Diet: |
NT |
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Dowitcher”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Short-billed dowitcher in JBWR (40844).jpg by Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0
Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.