Asian Dowitcher

Limnodromus semipalmatus (Blyth, 1848)

Asian Dowitcher, Limnodromus semipalmatus, is a wader in the sandpiper family that breeds in inland wetlands across south-west Siberia, eastern Kazakhstan, and probably from northern Mongolia to Amurland and north-east China. Outside the breeding season it occurs on coasts in south Thailand, the Malay Peninsula, the Indonesian Archipelago, northern Australia and the Philippines, though it is rare there. It has dark legs and a long, straight dark bill that is shorter than that of the long-billed dowitcher. Its breeding plumage is brown above and reddish below, with a black-and-white barred tail.

Order

Charadriiformes

Family

Scolopacidae — Sandpipers, Snipes

Breeding range

Palearctic: inland wetlands of temperate c, e Palearctic: sw Siberia and e Kazakhstan, (probably) n Mongolia to Amurland (se Siberia) and ne China

Nonbreeding range

Oriental Region, Australasia: coastal s Thailand, Malay Pen., Indonesian Arch., n Australia and Philippines (rare)