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==Identification== | ==Identification== | ||
Brown upperparts, reddish underneath in breeding plumage, black and white barred pattern on tail, dark legs and a long straight dark bill with a slightly bulbous tip. The winter plumage is largely grey. | Brown upperparts, reddish underneath in breeding plumage, black and white barred pattern on tail, dark legs and a long straight dark bill with a slightly bulbous tip. The winter plumage is largely grey. | ||
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| + | Asian Dowitchers look very similar to the Bar-tailed and Black-tailed Godwits which they tend to form flocks with. The dowitcher is slightly smaller and the bill is diagnostic, being perfectly straight with a slight bulb at the tip, as opposed to the tapering bill of the godwit (and the slightly curved bill of the bar-tailed godwit). The dowitcher bill also does not have any traces of pink, wheras godwit bills (especially bar-tailed godwit) often do. | ||
==Distribution== | ==Distribution== | ||
Revision as of 06:52, 4 March 2009
- Limnodromus semipalmatus
Identification
Brown upperparts, reddish underneath in breeding plumage, black and white barred pattern on tail, dark legs and a long straight dark bill with a slightly bulbous tip. The winter plumage is largely grey.
Asian Dowitchers look very similar to the Bar-tailed and Black-tailed Godwits which they tend to form flocks with. The dowitcher is slightly smaller and the bill is diagnostic, being perfectly straight with a slight bulb at the tip, as opposed to the tapering bill of the godwit (and the slightly curved bill of the bar-tailed godwit). The dowitcher bill also does not have any traces of pink, wheras godwit bills (especially bar-tailed godwit) often do.
Distribution
Breeds in Siberia and Manchuria; winters to southern Asia and northern Australia.
Taxonomy
A monotypic species.
Habitat
Grassy wetlands and coasts during migration and wintering..
Behaviour
These birds forage by probing in shallow water or on wet mud. The diet includes insects, molluscs, crustaceans and marine worms, and some plant material.
It breeds in small colonies; most females lay between late-May and early-June. The nest is a shallow depression on bare ground or in vegetation.
