Dowitcher | |
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Short-billed dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus) | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Charadriiformes |
Family: | Scolopacidae |
Subfamily: | Scolopacinae |
Genus: | Limnodromus Wied-Neuwied, 1833 |
Type species | |
Scolopax noveboracensis [1] = Scolopax grisea Gmelin. JF, 1789 | |
Species | |
See text. |
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. [2]
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. [3] 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.
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. [4] [5] The name combines the Ancient Greek limnē meaning "marsh" with -dromos meaning "-racer" or "-runner". [6]
The dowitcher species are: [7]
Common name | Scientific name and subspecies | Range | Size and ecology | IUCN status and estimated population |
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Short-billed dowitcher | Limnodromus griseus (Gmelin, JF, 1789) | 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 |