Dowitcher

Abstract: THE status of the dowitchers occurring across the length and breadth of the North American continent has been a matter of dispute practically since the time that the long-billed bird, Limnodromus scolopaceuw, was first described by Say in 1823 under the name of Limosa scolopacea. Various authors have endeavored from time to time to settle the matter by special investigation. In spite of these attempts, current literature is still full of doubts as to whether there is only one very variable dowitcher, whether there are two subspecies or whether there are actually two full species. It is the purpose of this paper to re-examine the entire question in light of the recent discovery of two fresh breeding grounds, from both of which skins are available, in Alberta and Manitoba: to describe and name a new subspecies (hendersoni): and to substantiate the validity of both the previously recognized forms, griseus and scolopaceus. The importance of breeding skins to an investigation of this sort requires no emphasis. Three breeding areas are now certainly known. The first to be discovered, within the Arctic Circle, from the Anderson River westward, has been recognized since MacFarlane (MacFarlane, 1908; Poynting, 1895-6) first collected birds and eggs in 1864. Since then various collectors have obtained eggs, downy young and adult skins from this general region. Without exception, as far as I am aware, these have all been identified as scolopaceus by the collectors themselves and by others who have examined them. Some of these skins are included in the present investigation. The second breeding area was finally established in 1925 when, on

Abstract: It is well established that once birds have laid their eggs they sometimes incubate non-egg objects. However, reports of birds incubating solely non-egg objects (without prior manipulation by researchers) are rare. Here we report on our observation of a Long-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus scolopaceus incubating a clutch composed entirely of mammalian bones. To our knowledge, this is the first report on (a) incubation of foreign objects in Scolopacidae, (b) incubation of a ‘clutch’ composed entirely of bones, and (c) incubation of foreign objects in a nest atypical for this species in both construction and nest habitat. We discuss possible explanations for this presumably maladaptive behaviour.

Abstract: During a study of the endohelminths of wading birds from the Texas Gulf coast, 5 specimens of an undescribed species of Haematotrephus (Cyclocoelidae) were studied and described. These specimens were collected by Dr. J. Teague Self, former professor, Department of Zoology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma from the air sacs of a long-billed dowitcher, Limnodromus scolopaceus, that was collected from the Cheyenne Bottoms, Roger Mills County, Oklahoma on August 3, 1963 and deposited in the Manter Laboratory of Parasitology. Haematotrephus limnodromi n. sp. can be distinguished from all the other species in the genus that lack an oral sucker (H. capellae, H. chengi, H. dollfusi, H. fasciatum, H. kossacki, H. lanceolatum, H. longisacculatum, H. nebularium, H. nigropunctatum, and H. phaneropsolus) by having intertesticular uterine loops. Corpopyrum brazilianum (originally described as Cyclocoelum brazilianum) is transferred as the second species in Selfcoelum, Corpopyrum dendrei is transferred to Neohaematotrephus, and Haematotrephus facioi is transferred to Wardianum. This is the first report of a species of Haematotrephus from a species of Limnodromus.

Abstract: On 13 February 1997 Neil Arnold, Vinod Goswami and others found a bird at Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India that Neil tentatively identified as an Asian Dowitcher Limnodromus semipalmatus. The bird remained in the area until the 23 February, when I saw it along with a group of friends. I was immediately struck by its small size — it was similar to, though noticeably bulkier, shorter-legged and longerbilled than a Common Redshank Tringa totanus. Asian Dowitcher would have appeared significantly larger and is more reminiscent of a Bar-tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica in both bulk and jizz. Among other differences an Asian Dowitcher would have had dark legs, whereas this bird had dull yellowish-olive legs. Asian Dowitcher also has a particularly heavy-based, often noticeably bulbous-tipped entirely black bill — this bird had a proportionately longer, slimmer bill with a yellowisholive basal third. Asian Dowitcher has a rather plain whitish underwing and lacks the dark chevrons and barring shown on this bird’s axillaries and underwingcoverts. Asian Dowitcher also has a distinctive upperwing pattern, with a panel formed by pale greater coverts, secondaries and inner primaries. The Bharatpur bird had a rather more uniform upperwing with a dark outer wing and a narrow whitish trailing edge to most of the flight feathers. Clearly, it was one of the two Nearctic dowitchers and, as such, a new species for the Indian subcontinent. Hurriedly ensuring that everyone present was watching the bird and that Alan Shaw was filming it, I worked through the features that I could remember for separating winter-plumaged Long-billed L. scolopaceus and Short-billed Dowitchers L. griseus. After a few minutes observation and discussion and, despite not hearing the bird call, I felt that I could confidently identify it as a Long-billed. A detailed description was taken, but only those features which separated it from Short-billed have been noted here. I felt that the bird was large for a Nearctic dowitcher and was perhaps too large to be a Short-billed. In particular, its long tibia and very long bill – the latter being approximately 1.75 times the length of the head, were both thought to be outside the range of a normal Short-billed Dowitcher. From most angles, and in a variety of postures, the bird’s folded primaries appeared to fall just short of the tip of its tail. Again, this is often cited as a feature of Long-billed Dowitcher — Shortbilled has a wing tip that falls equal to, or more typically extends just beyond the tail tip. A number of plumage features were noted (and captured on Alan Shaw’s video footage) that, in combination with the structural ones, confirmed the bird’s identification as a Long-billed Dowitcher.