Dowitcher

The three dowitchers are medium-sized long-billed wading birds in the genus Limnodromus. The genus name is Ancient Greek from limne and dromos. The English name is from Iroquois.

They resemble godwits in body and bill shape, and the reddish underparts in summer, but are much shorter legged, more like snipe to which they are also somewhat more closely related. 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 dowitcher species are:

• Short-billed dowitcher, Limnodromus griseus
• Long-billed dowitcher, Limnodromus scolopaceus
• Asian dowitcher, Limnodromus semipalmatus