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Dowitcher

Dowitchers

Long-billed Dowitcher
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family†:Scolopacidae
Genera
Limnodromus
† see also: wader

The three dowitchers are medium-sized long-billed wading birds. They resemble godwits in body and bill shape, and the reddish underparts in summer, but are much shorter legged, more like snipe. All three are strongly migratory.

The two North American species are difficult to separate in most plumages, and were considered a single species for many years. The Asian bird is rare and not well-known.

Species are: