Long-Billed Dowitcher
Limnodromus scolopaceus
Habitat
Aquatic
Diet
Invertebrate
Active Time
Diurnal
Size
104 g
About This Species
Probes mud and shallow water with a rapid, sewing-machine-like bill action in marshes, flooded fields and mudflats, often in mixed flocks with other shorebirds. Best looked for during migration in spring and autumn, when flocks stop over at wetlands along inland and coastal routes between Arctic breeding grounds and wintering areas in the southern US, Mexico and Central America. Crepuscular activity means early morning and late afternoon light often give the best views.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- Keep at least 30-50 metres back from feeding or roosting flocks, since flushing shorebirds wastes energy they need for migration, and this near-threatened species faces added pressure from wetland habitat loss.
- It is protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in the US and Canada and under similar migratory bird protections across Mexico and Central America, so deliberate disturbance should be avoided.
- Viewing from a hide, vehicle, or established path rather than walking out onto mudflats reduces stress on roosting flocks.
NTAvesCharadriiformesScolopacidae
Seasonal Activity
811,273 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Scolopacidae
Traits
- Diet
- Invertebrate
- Foraging
- Aquatic
- Activity
- Diurnal
- Body mass
- 104 g
Photo
Wikimedia Commons / Wikimedia Commons
CC-BY-SA-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.