Long-billed
dowitchers
Images copyright by Mark A. Chappell
Most of the long-billed dowitchers in the upper left image (I think; they look a lot like short-billed dowitchers) are partially or fully molted from the dull winter plumage into the bright rusty breeding plumage. They were resting in shallow water at the San Jacinto Wildlife Area near Riverside, California. At upper right is a picture of a roosting flock in dawn light (Palo Alto, California). The photos immediately below show a fully-molted bird resting and preening; it was at Bolsa Chica wetlands in coastal Orange County, California. Below these are two rows of images of spring-plumage birds migrating north. All of these birds show the neck spots, white-bordered scapulars, mostly orangish bellies, and barred sides that are (somewhat reliable) field marks of breeding-plumage long-bills. Single winter-plumage juvenile birds are shown near the bottom of the page; the last image of a preening bird gives a good view of the white rump. At the very bottom of the page are three images of roosting flocks of dowitchers, taken in pre-dawn light with high ISO and electronic flash.
Click here for pictures of short-billed dowtichers.
