ML487085711
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age and sex
- Adult, Unknown sex - 1
Media notes
black and pale tail bands of equal width
Observation details
Two Short-billed Dowitchers have recently been reported from this site (several observors and dates in September 2022). The call of a Short-billed was heard by some of them. 1) The description of the Long-billed Dowitcher in Stiles and Skutch includes:¨In all plumages black barring of upper tail coverts and rectrices is heavier and more regular (on central rectrices, dark bars 2-4 times as wide as pale bars; more even width in Short billed).¨ Garrigues states similar. Photos 2-5 show a white tail with narrow black bars (at most of equal width to the pale bars) that is a closer fit with the description of the tail of Short-billed. Photo 4 shows that both birds had this same tail pattern reducing any possible doubt about the ID of the second bird. However, the Shore-bird Guide states (for Long-billed) ¨tail barring variable but typically even¨, with a similar comment for Short-billed, so although this characteristic provides support for an ID of these birds as Short-billed it does not seem, by itself, to be a reliable field mark. 2) From the Shorebird Guide. Short-billed ¨…bill relatively broad based and blunt tipped with subtle downward kink near tip¨. Long-billed ¨relatively thin, fine-tipped bill is gently arched through outer half (not kinked in one spot like Short-billed)¨. Photos 1 and 5 show this kink near the tip of the bill, similar to that shown in photos in the Shorebird Guide; i.e., supports the ID as Short-billed. 3) Shorebird Guide. Short-billed is ¨….usually Slimmer and flatter backed than Long-billed in relaxed feeding pose¨. Subjective but photo 3 (and many others we have of these two birds foraging in the mud; not attached ) shows a slim bird with a flat back. They match photos of the Short-billed in that book; conclusion ¨looks like Short-billed¨. 4) From the Sibley Guide to Birds ¨[Long-billed] migrates somewhat later in fall than Short-billed…¨. Stiles and Skutch concur. They state that Short-billed arrives in Costa Rica from early August while Long-billed arrives from late October. This suggests that a sighting of a Dowitcher in Costa Rica in September is more likely to be Short-billed.
Technical information
- Model
- Canon EOS 7D Mark II
- Lens
- EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM
- ISO
- 500
- Focal length
- 400 mm
- Flash
- Flash did not fire
- f-stop
- f/5.6
- Shutter speed
- 1/2000 sec
- Dimensions
- 1876 pixels x 1251 pixels
- Original file size
- 634.98 KB