Long-billed Dowitcher

[Bill Dix]

I'm used to seeing images of these guys in the water, but this one was walking around on the sandy spit at the tip of Point Pelee back in May. That location didn't allow me to shift my position for a lower capture angle or better sun angle, but I was pleased to capture him in breeding plumage. A birding friend once told me that the way to tell the Short-billed from the Long-billed is that the latter look as if they've swallowed a grapefruit.

D7000, 500f4 +1.4, ISO 500, 1/1600s @ f/7.1 manual.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the walking pose, breeding colours and HA. I have to get to Point Pelee more next year. Nice image Bill.

[Karl Egressy]

Beautiful breeding plumage, nice walking pose and HA.
Great picture, Bill. I wish I were there.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

A grapefruit...
Very nice bird, details and pose. Light angle here is not a problem for me.

[Doug Schurman]

Beautiful bird. I like the mid stride.

I think I would like it better if the bird wasn't stepping on the rock.

[Shawn Zierman]

Great looking plumage, and seeing the bird out of the water is unique and fun.
I like the leading line created by the shadow. Focus looks proper, but my pixel peeping
is leading me to think another slight round of USM on the bird, (particularly on the face),
is worth considering.

[Satish Ranadive]

Very very sweet image.Love it.

Regards,
Satish.

[Craig Brelsford]

Nice one, Bill. I'd have liked a lower angle, but you take what you can get. Did you crop heftily?

[Wayne Richardson]

Hi Bill

It is always frustrating that, when you think you have a difficult ID sussed, someone comes along & throws a spanner in the works. Unfortunately, I am the bearer of that spanner!!! :w3

Not only can this image be ID’d as a Short-billed Dowitcher, it can also be assigned to a race & probably sexed too. The almost complete orange underparts together with relatively limited markings indicate this bird to be the Prairie sub-species. This race is actually closest to Long-billed Dowitcher in summer(alternate) plumage, but their underparts would be more deep red or rufous, i.e. in the UK we would describe it as brick-red. The crucial difference between Prairie Short-billed & Long-billed is spotting on the breast of the former & bars on the latter. Also the Long-billed neck would show barring too. Both the Atlantic & Pacific races of Short-billed show varying degrees of white on belly and although there are some paler patches on your bird, these will disappear as the moult to full summer plumage progresses. Another feature that distinguishes Prairie from the other 2 are the broad pale edges to the upperparts & wing coverts. This bird also has a very short bill, even for a Short-billed, so IMO this is a male.


A birding friend once told me that the way to tell the Short-billed from the Long-billed is that the latter look as if they've swallowed a grapefruit.

With regards to the ‘grapefruit’ appearance, I understand that this is normally best observed when birds are feeding. There is a photograph on page 204 of 'The Shorebird Guide - O'Brien, Crossley & Karlson' that perfectly demonstrates the structural differences between a Prairie Short-billed & a Long-billed. The bird in your image looks like it is slightly ‘fluffed-up’ & this has given it a more rounded appearance. A word of caution on ID is that you don't take a single feature to confirm difficult species & especially so from a photograph.

Cheers: Wayne

[Bill Dix]

Thank you Wayne. I'll bow to your greater experience. I can see the features you have mentioned, and they do indeed compare favorably with Sibley (my other guides are woefully lacking in describing this sub-species). I hadn't thought to look at the Prairie sub-species for a bird in Lake Erie. Is that to be expected, or was he off course?