Asiatic Dowitcher
Encyclopedia
The Asiatic Dowitcher, Limnodromus semipalmatus, is a rare medium-large wader
.
Adults have dark legs and a long straight dark bill, somewhat shorter than that of the Long-billed Dowitcher
. The body is brown on top and reddish underneath in breeding plumage
. The tail has a black and white barred pattern. The winter plumage is largely grey.
Their breeding habitat is grassy wetlands in inland northern Asia
. They migrate
to southeast Asia
as far south as northern Australia
, although both the breeding and wintering areas are poorly known. This bird is always found on coasts during migration and wintering.
These birds forage by probing in shallow water or on wet mud. They mainly eat insects, mollusks, crustaceans and marine worms, but also eat some plant material.
The confusion species for this bird is not, as might be expected, one of the American dowitcher
s, which in any case do not overlap in range, because the Asian bird is much larger. It closely resembles a small Bar-tailed Godwit
, although the dowitcher "sewing machine" feeding action and the yelping call are distinctions from the more widespread bird.
Wader
Waders, called shorebirds in North America , are members of the order Charadriiformes, excluding the more marine web-footed seabird groups. The latter are the skuas , gulls , terns , skimmers , and auks...
.
Adults have dark legs and a long straight dark bill, somewhat shorter than that of the Long-billed Dowitcher
Long-billed Dowitcher
The Long-billed Dowitcher, Limnodromus scolopaceus, is a medium-sized shorebird.Adults have yellowish legs and a long straight dark bill. The body is dark brown on top and reddish underneath with spotted throat and breast, bars on flanks. The tail has a black and white barred pattern...
. The body is brown on top and reddish underneath in breeding plumage
Plumage
Plumage refers both to the layer of feathers that cover a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage vary between species and subspecies and can also vary between different age classes, sexes, and season. Within species there can also be a...
. The tail has a black and white barred pattern. The winter plumage is largely grey.
Their breeding habitat is grassy wetlands in inland northern Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
. They migrate
Bird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...
to southeast Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
as far south as northern Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, although both the breeding and wintering areas are poorly known. This bird is always found on coasts during migration and wintering.
These birds forage by probing in shallow water or on wet mud. They mainly eat insects, mollusks, crustaceans and marine worms, but also eat some plant material.
The confusion species for this bird is not, as might be expected, one of the American dowitcher
Dowitcher
The three dowitchers are medium-sized long-billed wading birds. They resemble godwits in body and bill shape, and the reddish underparts in summer, but are much shorter legged, more like snipe to which they are also somewhat closer related...
s, which in any case do not overlap in range, because the Asian bird is much larger. It closely resembles a small Bar-tailed Godwit
Bar-tailed Godwit
The Bar-tailed Godwit is a large wader in the family Scolopacidae, which breeds on Arctic coasts and tundra mainly in the Old World, and winters on coasts in temperate and tropical regions of the Old World...
, although the dowitcher "sewing machine" feeding action and the yelping call are distinctions from the more widespread bird.