Posted by Bill Leggett on August 24, 2012 at 7:16 PM
Shot a couple of weeks ago in Gulfport, I believe it's a long billed in breeding plumage. But looking at Sibley's, the only thing that's different, apart from the slightly longer bill, is the breast color, although the "prairie" short billed (breeding) has similar colors. I've only seen the short billed here in Gulfport once or twice.
Posted by Richard Ditch on August 24, 2012 at 9:27 PM
The dowitchers are tricky even for experienced birders, and I am only comfortable based on vocalizations.
I'd go with Short-billed in juvenile plumage for this bird, but I'll listen to any other thoughts from others.
Posted by Buck Ward on August 24, 2012 at 11:01 PM
This looks like a short-bill to me, though I've never seen a long-bill as far as I know. Short-bills are common here. The posture is more upright than I'm used to seeing and the eye stripe seems a bit pronounced but if I saw this here I wouldn't give it a second thought. I'm no expert, but I see a lot of short billed dowitchers.
I go with short billed in transition from juvenile to non-breeding.
Posted by Jim DeWitt on August 27, 2012 at 5:51 PM
Most of the useful field marks for Long-billed vs. Short-billed are absent. About all we have is the bill length and shape. As Richard notes, it can be very difficult in non-breeding plumage in the best of circumstances. But the bill to head length ratio here is much less than 2:1; in a Long-billed, it would be pretty close to 2:1. Assuming we are looking straight-on, I'd go with Short-billed, too. Definitely juvenile plumage. One additional reason: this looks like salt water, and I'd expect SBDO on salt, with LBDO more like in fresh water...
Discussion
4 repliesI'd go with Short-billed in juvenile plumage for this bird, but I'll listen to any other thoughts from others.