On the Wing #19: Dastardly Dowitchers
Earlier in the week, I briefly discussed the concept of a "nemesis bird" and stated that I hadn't yet determined if I had one due to the bewildering and ever changing status of the birds I've been seeking over the past few months. For a while this summer, it was the Black-bellied Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna autumnalis) at GMNWR before it turned over to the last few weeks of September when I was absolutely obsessed with warblers. After getting six species: Northern Waterthrush (Parkesia novaboracensis), Tennessee (Oreothlypis peregrina), Nashville (Oreothlypis ruficapilla), Magnolia (Setophaga magnolia), Blackpoll (Setophaga striata), and Black-throated Blue Warbler (Setophaga carulescens), I started concentrating on the small, weedy fields and community gardens near me for Lincoln's Sparrow (Melospiza lincolnii). After getting a Lincoln's at Lincoln Meadows (ironic) in Sudbury, I looked at my remaining list. Where could I go that would get me more species in a day rather than going it one at a time?
Hell, in the past week, I've gotten a new bird everyday up until yesterday. I've spent most of today planning a trip to Plum Island and Parker River NWR so I can see what seems to me to be an enormous amount of species that I've never seen before. After visiting this page, I felt a wave of confidence that I might get a bunch of species to boost the list further towards my goal of 300. Recent sightings include a Red Knot (Calidris canutus), a Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos), and a Long-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus), as well as Saltmarsh (Ammodramus caudacutus), Seaside (Ammodramus maritimus), and Clay-colored Sparrows (Spizella pallida).
However, it was one particular name that gave me both a rush of animosity and worry. It seems that I have located my nemesis bird(s) and a source of personal irritation and colloquial disgust. They were the aforementioned Long-billed Dowitcher and its equally poorly-named lookalike cousin, the Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus). These two species have given me more feelings of doubt and disappointment than have any species of peeps or plovers or shorebirds alike. And excuse me for noticing, but when I see a name like "Long-billed Whatever" I expect something on the order of a Curlew!
Even these two pictures (chosen deliberately mind you to exhibit the futility of visual identification) give me the willies with their nearly identical appearances and absolutely useless common names. There are certainly worse common names for animals such as Purple Finch (Carpodacus purpureus), Hairy Woodpeckers (Picoides villosus), and Homo sapiens sapiens (with that last one being an attempt to mock the intellect of our species, but instead having the joke ruined by my explanation of it. Sorry.) Certainly other birders have trouble with their identification of these confusingly named sandpipers, but the texts dedicated to their identification are unhelpfully vague and tedious.
In early texts and pictures, "dowitcher" was referred to a single species (the good old days in my opinion) under the Latin name Limnodromus griseus, which is the current Latin name of the SBDO. Vogt's commentary in Audubon's Birds of America describes a bird with a "…proportionately long bill, white on rump, extending well up back." while 1947 edition of A Field Guide to the Birds by Roger Tory Peterson describes the following:
"11-12 1/2". The only snipe found on open shores. (However, some people use the name 'Snipe' as a nickname for all shore-birds.) In any plumage recognized by the very long straight snipe-like bill and white lower back, rump, and tail. The white rump extends up the back in a long point (much farther than in other shore-birds with white rumps). In spring plumage the breast is washed with cinnamon-red; in fall, with light gray. The Dowitcher feeds like a sewing-machine, rapidly jabbing its long bill perpendicularly into the mud."
Peterson made the point to add that LBDO was at least thought of as a subspecies, but even then the difficulty of determining the difference between the two had begun. Even back in 1925 with the publication of "Bird of Massachusetts and Other New England States" by Edward Howe Forbush represented them as species and subspecies. They weren't even split into two species until the 1950s and even from then, their identification seems nightmarish. So this leaves me with two options: 1. Continue to cower in the extreme difficulty of telling both species apart from each other or 2. Try to find other methods to identify them. Fortunately, a few options allow the second option to be less daunting.
The three things I will try to focus on when I head to Parker River tomorrow are the following:
Habitat Preference: Personally if I were to use this solely as a deciding factor for names I would do so. They do it for other species (Alder (Empidonax traillii) and Willow Flycatchers (E. alnorum) being a good East Coast example) so why not for dowitchers? What I'm referring to is that LBDO's prefer fresh water habitats over salt water and can be more reliably seen inland than SBDO's. However, this doesn't always seem to work as the LBDO's will turn up on the coast and often winter in mangroves which border the sea in Florida and other southern states. It's things this that make the other options useful.
Voice: According to the gospel known as "The Sibley Guide to Birds", the LBDO utters a "keek" or shrill series of "kik-kik-kik" notes, while the SBDO utters something more along the lines of "whew" or "tew-tew" given at a faster, lower tone than the LBDO. It is somewhat reminiscent of a Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes), but more urgent. Also, when LBDO are feeding they continually give of call notes, while SBDO feed in silence. It's nice to know who the chatterboxes are.
Range: Finally range seems to be the biggest indicator. While SBDO are more common in our neck of the woods (or flats which is more appropriate), some LBDO still show up which means identification errors might occur. And with the recent sightings of a few LBDO at Parker River, I'll have my hands full doing ID with the above steps. Further more, with their preference for inland habitat, I'm hoping I'll see the SBDO in the right habitat as opposed to elsewhere.
So those are the things I'll be focusing on. It's nearly midnight. I should post this soon so the information will still be relevant. Hope I can get a dowitcher at least and be able to ID it correctly. Hope I can get a bunch of other species too so I can get closer to that goal of mine. Night all and as always, happy birding ^_^
Hell, in the past week, I've gotten a new bird everyday up until yesterday. I've spent most of today planning a trip to Plum Island and Parker River NWR so I can see what seems to me to be an enormous amount of species that I've never seen before. After visiting this page, I felt a wave of confidence that I might get a bunch of species to boost the list further towards my goal of 300. Recent sightings include a Red Knot (Calidris canutus), a Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos), and a Long-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus), as well as Saltmarsh (Ammodramus caudacutus), Seaside (Ammodramus maritimus), and Clay-colored Sparrows (Spizella pallida).
*****
 |
| Long-billed Dowitcher or is it? |
 |
| It's gray, it has a long bill, and it's a shorebird. Um...Dunlin perhaps? |
Even these two pictures (chosen deliberately mind you to exhibit the futility of visual identification) give me the willies with their nearly identical appearances and absolutely useless common names. There are certainly worse common names for animals such as Purple Finch (Carpodacus purpureus), Hairy Woodpeckers (Picoides villosus), and Homo sapiens sapiens (with that last one being an attempt to mock the intellect of our species, but instead having the joke ruined by my explanation of it. Sorry.) Certainly other birders have trouble with their identification of these confusingly named sandpipers, but the texts dedicated to their identification are unhelpfully vague and tedious.
In early texts and pictures, "dowitcher" was referred to a single species (the good old days in my opinion) under the Latin name Limnodromus griseus, which is the current Latin name of the SBDO. Vogt's commentary in Audubon's Birds of America describes a bird with a "…proportionately long bill, white on rump, extending well up back." while 1947 edition of A Field Guide to the Birds by Roger Tory Peterson describes the following:
"11-12 1/2". The only snipe found on open shores. (However, some people use the name 'Snipe' as a nickname for all shore-birds.) In any plumage recognized by the very long straight snipe-like bill and white lower back, rump, and tail. The white rump extends up the back in a long point (much farther than in other shore-birds with white rumps). In spring plumage the breast is washed with cinnamon-red; in fall, with light gray. The Dowitcher feeds like a sewing-machine, rapidly jabbing its long bill perpendicularly into the mud."
Peterson made the point to add that LBDO was at least thought of as a subspecies, but even then the difficulty of determining the difference between the two had begun. Even back in 1925 with the publication of "Bird of Massachusetts and Other New England States" by Edward Howe Forbush represented them as species and subspecies. They weren't even split into two species until the 1950s and even from then, their identification seems nightmarish. So this leaves me with two options: 1. Continue to cower in the extreme difficulty of telling both species apart from each other or 2. Try to find other methods to identify them. Fortunately, a few options allow the second option to be less daunting.
The three things I will try to focus on when I head to Parker River tomorrow are the following:
Habitat Preference: Personally if I were to use this solely as a deciding factor for names I would do so. They do it for other species (Alder (Empidonax traillii) and Willow Flycatchers (E. alnorum) being a good East Coast example) so why not for dowitchers? What I'm referring to is that LBDO's prefer fresh water habitats over salt water and can be more reliably seen inland than SBDO's. However, this doesn't always seem to work as the LBDO's will turn up on the coast and often winter in mangroves which border the sea in Florida and other southern states. It's things this that make the other options useful.
Voice: According to the gospel known as "The Sibley Guide to Birds", the LBDO utters a "keek" or shrill series of "kik-kik-kik" notes, while the SBDO utters something more along the lines of "whew" or "tew-tew" given at a faster, lower tone than the LBDO. It is somewhat reminiscent of a Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes), but more urgent. Also, when LBDO are feeding they continually give of call notes, while SBDO feed in silence. It's nice to know who the chatterboxes are.
Range: Finally range seems to be the biggest indicator. While SBDO are more common in our neck of the woods (or flats which is more appropriate), some LBDO still show up which means identification errors might occur. And with the recent sightings of a few LBDO at Parker River, I'll have my hands full doing ID with the above steps. Further more, with their preference for inland habitat, I'm hoping I'll see the SBDO in the right habitat as opposed to elsewhere.
So those are the things I'll be focusing on. It's nearly midnight. I should post this soon so the information will still be relevant. Hope I can get a dowitcher at least and be able to ID it correctly. Hope I can get a bunch of other species too so I can get closer to that goal of mine. Night all and as always, happy birding ^_^
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