Irrespective of species, subspecies or season, dowitchers are among the most distinctive of all shorebirds. Notable features that set them apart from other shorebirds:

• Chunky body, short legs and long bill usually held vertically as it is thrust into mud, sewing-machinelike; see Fig. 12.
• Dark cap contrasting with pale, bold, relatively flat eyebrow (supercilium); see Fig. 4.
• Spring (alternate) plumage is speckled and warm colored, ranging from cinnamon to rufous on the underparts, dark brown and rufous on the upperparts; see Fig. 6, Fig. 7, Fig. 8, Fig. 10.
• Summer (alternate) plumage is dark brown and speckled above, rufous and spotted and barred on the neck, breast, belly and undertail; see Fig. 11, Fig. 12.
• Winter (basic) plumage is mousy gray-brown; see Fig. 1, Fig. 2, Fig. 4, Fig. 12.
• Legs and bill are yellow gray to dark green.
• In flight, dowitchers have pale trailing edges (secondary tips) to wings, gray barred tail, and white stripe up center of back; see Fig. 17, Fig. 23, Fig. 24.

Long-billed Dowitcher is famously “the bird that swallowed a grapefruit,” with a hunched back and bulging breast and belly; see Fig. 5, Fig. 19.

Other characteristic Long-billed Dowitcher features:

• Bold white arcs under eyes; see Fig. 2.
• Tail slightly longer than folded wingtips; see Fig. 2.
• Peaked dark cap and flat, pale, straight eyebrow (supercilium); see Fig. 4.
• Straight, long bill; sometimes with a gentle curve toward the tip; see Fig. 4, Fig. 20.

In most Long-billed Dowitchers at any season, the underwing pattern is diagnostic: a pale, nearly white, patch at the front of the wing next to the breast (the patagium). The axillars (wingpits) are also distinctive: dark bars on the feathers are usually about one-third the width of the whitish background; see Fig. 3, Fig. 10, Fig. 17.

Winter (basic) mantle feathers of Long-billed Dowitcher are gray brown with smudged dark centers and pale margins. Overall, upperparts (mantle) plumage is uniformly gray brown with a pale gray hood over the head, neck and down the upper breast; see Fig. 1.

In spring, alternate black, dark brown, rufous and white feathers replace the winter (basic) mantle feathers. The head, neck, breast and belly all the way to the undertail (vent) become orange rufous with a variety of bars and spots; see Fig. 6, Fig. 7, Fig. 8, Fig. 10.

Alternate plumage on birds reaching their first year of life (fledged the previous summer) is less colorful than alternate plumage on breeding birds two years old or older.

Spring (alternate) and summer (alternate) are the same plumage; however, as seasons advance, feather margins become worn and the plumage looks different.

In summer, alternate back (mantle) feather lose much of their pale edging. On adult birds returning from northern breeding areas in July and early August, worn mantle feathers look dark, almost black; see Fig. 11, Fig. 12.

In August, summer (alternate) feathers begin to be replaced by gray winter (basic) feathers. Many molting birds display a very pale head and neck contrasting with a darker body; see Fig. 13.

Newly fledged birds acquire juvenile plumage that is distinctive. Many juveniles have a buffy or rosy wash on the breast and flanks. Back (mantle) feathers are patterned evenly and edged with rufous, narrow zigzag margins; see Fig. 14. The colorful mantle feather margins often fade to pale and wear off later in the season.

Juvenile tertial feathers, the long feathers that nearly cover the primaries on a resting bird, are plain gray with narrow pale margins; see Fig. 15, Fig. 18.

As fall advances, juvenile birds slowly molt into the gray-brown winter (basic) plumage; see Fig. 16.

Long-billed Dowitcher (LBDO) and Short-billed Dowitcher (SBDO) are so similar in most plumages that they were considered conspecific until the 1950s. Although Long-billed Dowitcher is, on average, larger and longer-billed than Short-billed Dowitcher and also brighter and more colorful in spring and summer (alternate) plumage, there is overlap in bill length and body size, as well as similarity of coloration of Long-billed with one of the subspecies (L. g. hendersoni) of Short-billed Dowitcher.

We provide as much information as possible to help with dowitcher species identification. Distinguishing features are given in the order of usefulness. In most cases, no single feature is sufficient for species identification; use a combination of features to determine species. When in doubt, “dowitcher species” is a suitable label.

Note the following:

• Tertials are long feathers that nearly cover the primaries on a resting bird. Juvenile tertial pattern is the easiest single field mark to distinguish Long-billed from Short-billed Dowitcher. Long-billed juveniles have a subdued brown dorsal pattern; back (mantle) feathers are edged with rufous or pale zigzag margins. Long-billed tertials are plain gray brown with pale narrow margins; see Fig. 14, Fig. 15, Fig. 16. Short-billed juveniles are suffused in warm orange-buff hues and have the characteristic scaly back (mantle) pattern of most juvenile shorebirds. Short-billed tertial feathers are blackish brown with complex inner orange zigzag markings; see Fig. 18.
• Calls: Long-billed Dowitcher makes a high-pitched single or repeated keek call on the ground or as it flies. Short-billed Dowitcher’s calls are rapid tu-tu-tu as it takes flight and sometimes while on the ground.
• Patagium (underwing shoulder area close to the body) and axillars (wingpits): Long-billed Dowitcher with its wings raised displays a clear, unbarred area on the patagium. Axillars are whitish with narrow dark bars; see Fig. 3, Fig. 10, Fig. 17. Short-billed Dowitcher has thick dark barring on underwings, axillars and patagium.
• Plumage, spring and summer (alternate):
  • Long-billed Dowitcher is a deep rufous-chestnut on the underparts, all the way to the undertail (vent); see Fig. 7.
  • The predominant subspecies of Short-billed Dowitcher in the east (Limnodromus griseus griseus) has peach-tinted underparts from March until August. This color extends to mid-belly at the most. The undertail (vent) is pale.
  • Midwestern Short-billed Dowitcher (L. g. hendersoni) displays rich peach or orange underparts all the way to the undertail (vent) area.
  • Spring (alternate) Long-billed Dowitcher’s scapulars and lower wing coverts usually have highly contrasting kidney-shaped white tips; see Fig. 9, Fig. 21.
  • At close range: In early spring, Long-billed Dowitcher’s breast is evenly barred with brown and rufous with white margins; see Fig. 8. Short-billed Dowitcher’s breast feathers have orange margins. By summer, the white margins of Long-billed Dowitcher’s breast feathers wear off.
• Plumage; winter (basic):
  • Long-billed Dowitcher’s back (mantle) feathers are gray brown, with smudged, slightly darker centers bisected by dark central shafts; see Fig. 1, Fig. 5, Fig. 22.
  • Short-billed Dowitcher’s back (mantle) is also gray brown. Each feather is tinted an even gray brown, bisected by a crisp dark central shaft; see Fig. 22.
  • Long-billed Dowitcher’s breast and neck are evenly gray.
  • Short-billed Dowitcher’s chin and throat are whitish, with diffuse gray speckling on the upper breast and neck.
  • Barring on the flanks, though extremely variable, is usually smudgier on Long-billed Dowitcher and crisper and often chevroned in Short-billed Dowitcher.
• Body shape:
  • Long-billed Dowitcher is fat and chunky with a hunched back and bulging belly and breast. The conventional description is that of a “bird that swallowed a grapefruit;” see Fig. 5, Fig. 19.
  • Short-billed Dowitcher is slimmer and smaller.
  • Long-billed Dowitcher’s folded wings fall slightly short of the tail tip; see Fig. 2, Fig. 6.
  • On most Short-billed Dowitchers, wings and tail are about even in length.
• Bill length and shape:
  • Bill length is not a reliable method of separating Long-billed from Short-billed Dowitcher. In general, females have longer bills than males.
  • Long-billed Dowitcher’s bill is straight or slightly and evenly curved throughout. It appears thicker-based, more tapered and pointed than Short-billed’s; see Fig. 4, Fig. 20.
  • Short-billed Dowitcher bill has a slight kink at about two-thirds of the length out; see Fig. 20. The bill is tubular and somewhat blunt.
• Head shape and other head characteristics:
  • Long-billed Dowitcher’s forehead slopes smoothly to a peaked crown; see Fig. 4.
  • Short-billed Dowitcher’s forehead angles more steeply to the bill. The crown is more rounded.
  • Long-billed Dowitcher’s eyebrow (supercilium) is narrow and short and appears straight; see Fig. 4.
  • Short-billed Dowitcher’s supercilium is thick and arched.
  • Long-billed Dowitcher has a prominent pale arc under the eye; see Fig. 2.
• Habitat: Long-billed Dowitcher is often found in freshwater areas. Short-billed Dowitcher prefers to feed in tidal and saline areas. These habitat preferences are by no means definitive or indicative of species.

Long-billed Dowitcher (LBDO) and Stilt Sandpiper (STSA) have somewhat similar long bills and feeding motions, their bills poking vertically, sewing-machine fashion, in shallow water and mud.

Note the following:

• In all plumages, Long-billed Dowitcher is browner, Stilt Sandpiper is grayer.
• Long-billed Dowitcher is chunkier and larger, Stilt Sandpiper is smaller and slimmer.
• Long-billed Dowitcher’s bill is longer, tapered and basically straight. Stilt Sandpiper’s bill is somewhat slimmer, tubular and noticeably downcurved near the tip.
• Summer (alternate) plumage:
  • Long-billed Dowitcher’s neck, chest and belly to undertail (vent) are rufous-tinted, spotted and barred dark brown.
  • Stilt Sandpiper’s neck and chest are pale and spotted with dark gray. The belly is white with heavy dark brown barring.
  • Long-billed Dowitcher’s head and face are cinnamon rufous with a dark line through the eye and a pale eyebrow (supercilium).
  • Stilt Sandpiper’s face is pale with a rufous patch through the eye and on the crown and a bold pale eyebrow (supercilium).
• Stilt Sandpiper’s legs are yellowish green, usually paler than the dark greenish legs of Long-billed Dowitcher.
• In flight, Long-billed Dowitcher has a prominent white stripe up the center of the back and pale tips to the rear inner half of the wings (secondary flight feathers) as seen from above. Stilt Sandpiper has a barred tip to the tail and mostly white rump; the wings are gray with a faint wing stripe; see Fig. 23.

Long-billed Dowitcher (LBDO) is much larger than Dunlin (DUNL) and has a proportionally longer bill. Dunlin has a distinct down-curve to the bill.

Note the following:

• Spring and summer (alternate) plumage: Long-billed Dowitcher has a speckled rufous or cinnamon head, neck, breast and undertail (vent); the back (mantle) is speckled brown, black, rusty and white. Dunlin has a rusty crown and speckled rufous and black back (mantle) with a black belly.
• In-flight comparisons: Long-billed Dowitcher has a prominent white stripe up the center of the back and pale tips to rear inner half of the wings (secondary flight feathers) as seen from above. Dunlin has a dark-centered tail with white edges, and prominent white wing stripes; see Fig. 23, Fig. 24.

Compared to Lesser Yellowlegs (LEYE), Long-billed Dowitcher (LBDO) is browner, chunkier, shorter-legged and longer-billed. Long-billed Dowitcher is often slightly larger than Lesser Yellowlegs; see Fig. 25.

Note the following:

• Lesser Yellowlegs’ bill is tapered, pointed and much shorter than Long-billed Dowitcher’s.
• The main facial feature of Long-billed Dowitcher is a prominent eyebrow (supercilium) and a prominent cap. For Lesser Yellowlegs, the prominent facial feature is a white eye-ring.
• Long-billed Dowitcher in spring, summer and fall (alternate and molting) plumage has a mix of brown, rufous, gray and white feathers above and rufous with barring and speckling below. In most plumages, Lesser Yellowlegs is gray above with white spotting and white underneath with some gray barring or streaking.
• Long-billed Dowitcher’s leg color ranges from dusky yellow to dull green or brown. Lesser Yellowlegs in all plumages has bright yellow legs.
• In flight, Long-billed Dowitcher has a prominent white stripe up the center of the back and pale tips to the rear inner half of the wings (secondary flight feathers) as seen from above. Lesser Yellowlegs has a faintly barred white tail and all-gray wings; see Fig. 23.

Compared to Greater Yellowlegs (GRYE), Long-billed Dowitcher (LBDO) is smaller; it appears chunky, short-legged and long-billed; see Fig. 26.

Note the following:

• Long-billed Dowitcher’s bill is tubular with a thick base. Some individuals have a gentle down-curve to the bill. Greater Yellowlegs’ bill is tapered and pointed, often with a slight up-curve.
• The main facial feature of Long-billed Dowitcher is a prominent eyebrow (supercilium) and a prominent cap. For Greater Yellowlegs, the prominent facial feature is a white eye-ring.
• Long-billed Dowitcher is browner in all plumages. In spring, summer and fall (alternate and molting) Long-billed Dowitcher has a mix of black, brown, rufous, gray and white feathers above and rufous with barring and speckling below. In most plumages, Greater Yellowlegs is gray above with white spotting and white underneath with some gray barring or streaking.
• Long-billed Dowitcher’s leg color ranges from dusky yellow to dull green or brown. Greater Yellowlegs in all plumages has bright yellow legs.

Long-billed Dowitcher (LBDO) and Wilson’s Snipe (WISN) are approximately the same size and shape, both with very long bills. Both may occur in muddy habitats. Note that the snipe has strongly contrasting dark and white lines through the face and on the back (scapulars); see Fig. 27.