Asian Dowitcher vs Long-billed Dowitcher

Asian Dowitcher

Limnodromus semipalmatus

Medium212 gWetland

Adults have dark legs and a long, straight dark bill, somewhat shorter than that of the long-billed dowitcher. The body is brown on top and reddish underneath in breeding plumage. The tail has a black and white barred pattern. The winter plumage is largely grey. Their breeding habitat is grassy wetlands in inland Siberia and Manchuria. They migrate to southeast Asia as far south as northern Australia, although both the breeding and wintering areas are poorly known. This bird is always found on coasts during migration and wintering. These birds forage by probing in shallow water or on wet mud.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Ian Dugdale (iandugdale) · CC BY 4.0

Long-billed Dowitcher

Limnodromus scolopaceus

Medium104 gWetland

The long-billed dowitcher is a medium-sized, stocky sandpiper with a bill about twice the length of its head. In all plumages, the long-billed dowitcher has a whitish supercilium and dark loral stripe that continuous past the eye. The tail is barred black and white with the black being almost twice the width of the white and a large distinctive white rump which extends up to the middle of its back. Long-billed dowitcher are in breeding plumage from approximately May to late August or early September. Voice: The long-billed dowitcher's main call, mostly heard in flight but also while on ground, is a high, sharp keek sometimes repeated as an accelerating quick double or triple note series. Its second, less common call is a tu given 1-8 times. Its song is described as pee-witch-er, and its alarm call is an explosive KEEK.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Mike Baird from Morro Bay, USA · CC BY 2.0

Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Asian Dowitcher and Long-billed Dowitcher.