Short-billed Dowitcher

First comes a clipped tu-tu-tu call; then the male’s flight song opens into a longer, quavering whistle over the breeding marsh.

Breeds in sphagnum bogs and fens across the southern edge of the boreal forest from western Alaska to Labrador. Winters mainly along the coasts of the southern United States, Mexico, the Caribbean, and northern South America.

Favors shallow coastal wetlands—mudflats, tidal creeks, salt-marsh pools, mangrove lagoons—and during migration also uses inland flooded fields, lake edges, and sewage ponds.

Northbound migration peaks April–May; breeding occurs late May–July; southbound migration July–October; birds occupy tropical wintering grounds from August through March.

The Short-billed Dowitcher is a chunky, medium-sized shorebird distinguished by its straight, tapered bill and rapid, sewing-machine style feeding action. In breeding plumage adults show rich rufous underparts barred with black, while nonbreeding birds are mostly plain gray above with whitish bellies. Three identifiable subspecies differ subtly in size and color, but all share the short neck, hunch-backed stance, and long dark bill that give dowitchers their characteristic look.