Long-billed Dowitcher?

[David Pugsley]

I need to verify ID of this fella before posting to the critique forum. Thanks in advance!

Cheers
David

[John Chardine]

This is a tough one David. My solution is to just call them dowitchers!

However, I'm going to take a stab at this and say juvenile Short-billed based on the buff tinge to the upper breast and the bars on the tertial wing feathers (the ones visible and covering the tail). But true to form I'm probably completely wrong so wait for other opinions!

[Arthur Morris]

Where? Date? Most likely an easy ID after that info....

[David Pugsley]

Where? Date? Most likely an easy ID after that info....

Last week at Ft. DeSoto.

[Arthur Morris]

Though I was nearly 100% positive that the bird is a short-billed, the date and location confirm it. The bird is a worn juvenile. The tertials are marked internally but as the plumage is worn, that is a bit hard to see in the photograph. However, it is the timing of migration that clinches the ID. Juvenile Long-billed Dowitchers do not make it to the northeast (and likely to the southeast as well) until very late September at the very earliest.

[David Pugsley]

Thanks Artie, much appreciated.
Cheers!
David

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Artie, much appreciated. Cheers! David

You are welcome. I should have mentioned that the info above is just a snippet of the ageing and ID info contained in my Shorebirds; Beautiful Beachcombers.

[John Chardine]

I guess I got this one right. Who would have guessed?

[Arthur Morris]

No need to guess with juvies. The tertials of juvie Long-billeds are edged dark rufous with clear unmarked centers. And always the sharp keek keek of long-billeds is diagnostic.

[Dave Irons]

By western standards (I live in Oregon where we see almost exclusively L. griseus caurinus) this is a rather dull juv. Short-billed Dowitcher. The nominate eastern subspecies (L. g. griseus) is generally less colorful than its western counterparts. As Artie pointed out, timing and location reveal much when it comes to southbound juvenile dowitchers. In the western N.A. the first southbound Short-billed Dowitchers start showing up at the very end of July and they will be all but gone from here by early September. Conversely, one rarely sees a juv. Long-billed Dowitcher here before mid-September and the peak passage normally occurs during October.

[Dave Irons]

I am of the opinion that it is sometimes easier to separate juv. dowitchers from a distance than it is close-up, especially if the bird is like this one and the barring on the tertials is less than obvious. As as an experiment, scroll up to David Pugsley's image then get up from your chair and walk across the room about 4-5 paces and look at it from a distance. Even on this comparatively dull bird, the breast has a orangish buff cast to it and the broad warm buffy margins on the back, scaps, tertials, and wing coverts create a very warm golden "glow" to the upperparts.

Now, open another browser window and go to the BirdFellow.com gallery for Long-billed Dowitcher (http://www.birdfellow.com/birds/long...ceus#/idPhotos) and open up either image #8 (Oct juv. that I photographed) or image #9 (September juv. by Glenn Bartley). If you adjust the two windows so that these two images are side-by-side and then walk away from your screen a few paces again, you should see a noticeable difference in the overall warmth (particularly on the breast) of these two birds. The Sibley Guide does a really nice job of illustrating this difference and is a great starting point for learning to ID juv. dowitchers without having to learn the fine details of tertial patterns. Short-billed are typically much more warmly colored than Long-billed, especially on the breast. Plus, the pale margins on the back, scap, coverts, and tertials are distinctly broader on Short-billed, contributing to a brighter "glow" to the upperparts.

Dave Irons Content Editor BirdFellow.com

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Dave. Lots of illustrative images at the link. To add: once folks learn to age juvenile shorebirds by their crisp, even patterns and warm colors--usually easier than ID-ing them as to species, seperating juvie dows is even easier. Any relatively fresh juvie in Aug and the first half of Sept is a short-billed. By the time the long-billeds arrive in the US the short-billeds are worn and have already begun to molt to first winter so any fresh juvie in the US mid-Sept or later has gotta be a long-billed.