General

Long-billed Dowitcher: Large, stocky sandpiper with dark, mottled upperparts, darker cap and eye stripe, short white eyebrow and red-brown underparts with lightly barred flanks. Bill is very long, dark and very slightly decurved. Legs and feet are yellow-green. Sexes are similar, although female may have longer bill. Winter adult is gray overall with lightly barred white belly and shows fine dark spots on white vent. Juvenile resembles winter adult but is darker above and shows a brown wash on underparts.

Range and Habitat

Long-billed Dowitcher: Breeds along the coast of western Alaska and northwestern Canada. Spends winters along the coast from Washington and Virginia south to Guatemala and throughout Mexico. During breeding season lives on tundra; found on mudflats, marshes, and edges of freshwater ponds and marshes during winter.

Breeding and Nesting

Long-billed Dowitcher: Their breeding grounds are in northern Alaska and Canada, although some have expanded as far as Siberia. Four brown to olive eggs with brown and gray blotches are laid in a shallow, elevated ground scrape lined with grass and moss, usually near water. Although both sexes incubate the eggs for 20 days, only the male takes care of the young once they hatch.

Foraging and Feeding

Long-billed Dowitcher: These sandpipers feed mainly on insect larvae, earthworms, crustaceans, moss, plant parts, seeds and snails. They probe in shallow water and on mudflats with a fast, repetitive up-down motion with the bill. They frequently plunge their head below the water. They have been observed drinking in brackish water by dipping and raising their bill and tilting their head back.

Vocalization

Long-billed Dowitcher: Alarm call is a single, loud "keek."

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.