Adults: Breeding: Head, underparts, rufous-brown. Top of head, finely streaked black. Upperparts, black with chestnut buff and white fringes. Eyebrow, buffish and prominent. Eyestrip, blackish. Black V-bars on flanks and undertail coverts. Underwing, white finely barred blackish. Bill, long, slender, slightly widened at tip, dark grey, some olive-yellow at base. Legs, greenish-yellow. Non-breeding: Upperparts, dark grey-brown with pale margins to wing feathers. Top of head, grey. Eyebrow, white, wider before the eye than behind. Eyestripe, broad and dark. Dingy grey-brown wash across upperbreast, contrasting with white underparts. Sparse dark V-bars and spots on flanks and undertail. In flight, conspicuous white wedge on back. Rump, white. Tail, irregularly barred blackish. Shortish-white wingbar on innerwing, parralleled by a longer white trailing edge. Underwing, white, finely barred blackish (looks grey in flight). In flight, toes extend beyond tail tip.
Immatures: Like non-breeding adult. Buff wash to a grey breast. Rufous fringes to dark scapulars and coverts, Rusty fringed grey tertials.
Family
Scolopacidae (Sandpipers, Snipes, Phalaropes)
Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Brunei Darussalam, Canada (P), Cayman Islands, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Guam (NB), Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Northern Mariana Islands (NB), Panama, Puerto Rico, Russia (Asian), Thailand, USA (B).
Vagrant to Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong (China), Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Malaysia, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Spain, St Kitts and Nevis, Sweden, United Kingdom, Vietnam, Virgin Islands (British), Virgin Islands (U.S.), Western Sahara.
Recorded at Lake Tutchewop, near Kerang, Victoria, November 2014.
Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.
Population
Estimated population is 400,000 (2010).
Food
Insects, leeches, molluscs and some vegetable matter.
Voice
A single high, sharp 'keek' or sharp series, varying in length, of repeated chattering 'keek-keek-keek' or 'kyuk-kyuk-kyuk-kyuk' uttered in flight.
Long-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus) [XC406402]
by Patrik \u00c5berg from Barrow, North Slope Borough, Alaska, United States (song)
Long-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus) [XC761084]
by Andrew Easton from Ancum, North Ronaldsay, Orkney, Scotland, United Kingdom (call, flight call)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Does not breed in Australia.
Similar Species
Asian Dowitcher (Limnodromus semipalmatus)
Larger. Non-breeding with non-breeding. Bill is longer, black and brown at the base, with a swollen tip. Upperparts, light brownish-grey with feathers edged white. Legs, black or dark grey.
Red Knot (Calidris canutus)
Slightly smaller. Breeding with breeding. Bill is shorter. Legs are darker. Lacks the white wedge up the back.
Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus)
Similar size. Non-breeding with non-breeding. Almost identical but tail feathers are lighter and white bars are wider. Has a mottled grey breast. Call is a mellow 'tu tu tu'. Often more silent.
Compare Images
The Reader's Digest Book of British Birds 1980, 3rd Edition, Drive Publications Ltd ISBN 0 340 25308 8
Birds in Colour Campbell, B., 1960, Penguin Books Ltd
The Pocket Guide to Nest and Eggs Fitter, R.S.R., 1954, Collins
RSPB Handbook of British Birds Holden, P., Cleeves, T., 2002, A & C Black ISBN 0 7136 5713 8
Birds of Britain and Europe Sterry, P., et al., 2001, AA Publishing ISBN 0 7495 3068 5
The Popular Handbook of British Birds Hollom, P.A.D., 1973, H.F. & G. Witherby Ltd ISBN 0 85493 002 7
BirdLife International Species Factsheet