Long-billed Dowitcher
Long-billed Dowitcher: Large, stocky sandpiper with dark, mottled upperparts, dark cap and eyestripe, short white eyebrow, and red-brown underparts with lightly barred flanks. Bill is long, dark, and dagger like. Legs and feet are yellow-green. Swift direct flight, rapid wing beats.
● Song:
"keek"
● Foraging & Feeding:
Long-billed Dowitcher: Feeds primarily on insect larvae, earthworms, crustaceans, moss, plant parts, seeds, and snails. Probes in shallow water and on mudflats with a fast, repetitive up-down motion of its bill; frequently plunges head below the water.
● Breeding & nesting:
Long-billed Dowitcher: Four brown to olive eggs with brown and gray blotches are laid in a shallow, elevated ground scrape lined with grass and moss, often built near water. Eggs are incubated for 20 days and is carried out by both parents during the first week, and then just by the male.
● Similar species:
Long-billed Dowitcher: Short-billed Dowitcher has faint bars on flanks and slightly shorter bill. Common Snipe has heavily streaked upperparts and longer legs, uses different foraging techniques, and lacks the white rump.