Dowitcher eye-contact -- Identity Revealed

Orange County, CA

It's probing but it's still keeping a wary eye on the photographer.

I won't say Long-billed or Short-billed Dowitcher so you shorebird experts can try to identify it. There are a couple of good field marks present but obviously not the bill length which isn't always a reliable field mark for Dowitchers anyway.


OK, it's been up over a day and this is a Long-billed Dowitcher. Key field marks:

1) Dark bars on tail feathers are wider than the white bars. This gives the appearance that it has more black than white on the tail feathers as opposed to Short-billed which normally shows wider white bars than black bars.

2) Gray on breast is darker than it would normally be on a Short-billed. (this is very hard to tell without a side by side comparison).

3) When bending over the back is more humped-shaped than on a Short-billed which generally have a flatter back.

4) Here's another photo of the same bird where you can see the entire bill which is fairly long.

http://www.naturescapes.net/portfolios/ ... &pos=-2029

1D MK II, 600 w/ 1.4 TC, f/8, 1/1000 sec, ISO 400

Steve