Long-billed Dowitcher

Telling Long-billed from Short-billed dowitchers is difficult. Female Long-billed Dowitchers have long bills, and this bird’s bill does seem to me to be relatively long. The striking stripes on  this bird’s flanks also suggest that this bird is a Long-billed Dowitchers. Short-billed Dowitchers often have spotted flanks, but western birds can be quite similar. Note that the stripes lie against a dusky, not white background—another field mark of the Long-billed Dowitcher. Being that Erika and I saw this bird at Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge on 7 November 2019, I wore long pants. This observation is an odd field mark for Long-billed Dowitchers. But Long-billed Dowitchers tend to be late migrants, when birders are unlikely to be wearing shorts.

The derivation of the word “dowitcher” is open to debate. Gruson (1972), my usual source for etymology, suggests dowitcher comes from an Iroquoian name. Cornell, however, maintains that the word is derived from a hunter’s traditional name, “German Snipe.” In Pennsylvania Dutch, “Duitscher” means  German. (The name for Wilson’s Snipe was “English Snipe.”)