Short-billed Dowitcher

Limnodromus griseus (Gmelin, JF, 1789)

Short-billed Dowitcher, Limnodromus griseus, is a shorebird of the family Scolopacidae that breeds in North America, from Gulf of Alaska tundra and muskeg through western Canada to Hudson and James bays and western Labrador. In the non-breeding season it moves to the southern USA and Louisiana, and also reaches coastal mudflats and mangroves from western North America to Peru and the Galápagos, and from North Carolina to north-east Brazil. It is a stocky bird with a long bill, and it is hard to separate from the Long-billed Dowitcher, especially in winter or as a juvenile.

Order

Charadriiformes

Family

Scolopacidae — Sandpipers, Snipes

Breeding range

North America: n temperate bogs in tundra and muskeg of Nearctic: Gulf of Alaska and inland sc Alaska, sw Yukon and montane nw British Columbia (nw Canada); nc Alberta to w Manitoba (c Canada); sw Hudson and James bays to w Labrador (ec Canada)

Nonbreeding range

s USA and LA : coastal mudflats and mangroves of temperate to tropical Western Hemisphere: n California to n Peru and Galápagos (e Pacific) and North Carolina to ne Brazil (w Atlantic)