 |
 |
|
|
|
|
Dowitchers (I think these are mostly short-billed, but there is at least one long-billed in the resting flock) are abundant on California's coastal and inland marshes and mudflats during the winter season. The birds in the upper photos were resting at high tide in a salt marsh in Palo Alto (left) and at the San Diego River Mouth (right; this bird is starting to molt into breeding plumage). The two birds two rows below at left (also partially molted), and the single birds in winter plumage, were at Bolsa Chica wetlands in coastal Orange County. The curved supercillium and pale feather-edgings on the back, plus the faint spots on the neck of the winter-plumage birds are some of the field marks useful for separating winter-plumaged short-billed from long-billed dowitchers; there aren't any neck spots on the rightmost bird in the resting flock (above, left), which leads me to think it's a long-billed. The two birds near the bottom are juveniles (San Jacinto Wildlife Area in southern California).
Click here for pictures of short-billed dowitchers in breeding plumage. |
|
|
|
