Short-billed Dowitcher

About the Short-billed Dowitcher

Dowitchers are stocky, long-billed shorebirds that feed with a fast up-and-down motion that birders call sewing-machine feeding. Texas has two species, and the Short-billed Dowitcher is the one that belongs on the coast, where it gathers in big flocks on tidal flats.

Telling it from the Long-billed Dowitcher is tricky, since the bills overlap in length. Habitat and call help most: Short-billed prefers salt water and gives a soft, mellow tu-tu-tu, while Long-billed favors fresh water and gives a sharp, single keek.

That preference makes an inland Short-billed Dowitcher a real find. The lead photographs here show a rare inland bird on the shoreline at Bob Wentz Windy Point Park on Lake Travis on August 3, 2023. The last frame shows the species in its usual setting at East Beach on Galveston Island.