Long-billed Dowitcher Photos

Photography by Terry Sohl

My Favorite: Long-billed Dowitchers are a pretty common shorebird migrant in South Dakota, both in the spring and the summer months. Usually you see them in small groups, all foraging in shallow water together. My favorite photo of the species is the one below from Lake Whitewood on May 2010.

Note it is EXTREMELY difficult to differentiate Long-billed Dowitchers from Short-billed Dowitchers. Long-billed Dowitchers are the more common in the state, and the first assumption of a dowitcher spotted in South Dakota should be Long-billed, unless you have definitive evidence otherwise. That "definitive evidence" is difficult, however! Even my "favorite" photo below...I see a bill that perhaps has a slight drop at the end, which would be a Short-billed Dowitcher characteristic. There are other things that don't seem to be there though for Long-billed, including a noticeable "dip" at the bottom curve where the back meets the rump. I don't have trouble in identifying most birds, but differentiating these two is still a challenge!

Long-billed Dowitcher - Limnodromus scolopaceus


Long-billed Dowitcher 1	Long-billed Dowitcher 2	Long-billed Dowitcher 3	Long-billed Dowitcher 4
September 30th, 2004	May 3rd, 2005	May 5th, 2006	May 3rd, 2005
Lake Thompson, South Dakota	Lake Thompson, South Dakota	Lake Thompson, South Dakota	Lake Thompson, South Dakota
Lone bird in winter plumage	Group of feeding birds in breeding plumage	Breeding plumage adult in shallow water wetland	Breeding plumaged bird wading in shallow water

Long-billed Dowitcher 5	Long-billed Dowitcher 6	Long-billed Dowitcher 7	Long-billed Dowitcher 8
May 3rd, 2005May 3rd, 2005	May 5th, 2006	July 11th, 2009	May 14th, 2010
Lake Thompson, South Dakota	Lake Thompson, South Dakota	Sully County, South Dakota	Lake Whitewood, South Dakota
Flock of foraging birds in shallow water	Bird feeding in shallow waters of large lage	Flock foraging in shallow water (with American Avocet buddy)	Single bird perched on rocky shoreline, in breeding plumage

Long-billed Dowitcher 9	Long-billed Dowitcher 10	Long-billed Dowitcher and Hudsonian Godwit	Long-billed Dowitcher 11
May 9th, 2011	May 9th, 2011	April 23rd, 2017	December 28th, 2018
Near Worthing, South Dakota	Near Worthing, South Dakota	Western Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Gilbert Water Ranch, Arizona
Three breeding plumaged birds in shallow water	Flock standing at the edge of a large wetland	Flock in flight, mixed with Hudsonian Godwits	Non-breeding bird foraging in shallow pond

Long-billed Dowitcher 12	Long-billed Dowitcher 13
July 5th, 2020	July 5th, 2020
Hughes County, South Dakota	Hughes County, South Dakota
Worn breeding plumaged bird	Worn breeding plumaged bird