Dowitcher

The three dowitchers are medium-sized long-billed wading birds in the genus Limnodromus. The English name "dowitcher" is from Iroquois, recorded in English by the 1830s.<ref name=OED>Template:Cite OED The OED's earliest example is from 1841, but full-text searching gives results that suggest it was already in common use by the mid-1830s.</ref>

They resemble godwits in body and bill shape, and the reddish underparts in summer, but are much shorter legged, more like snipes, to which they are more closely related.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> 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.

Taxonomy

The genus Limnodromus was introduced in 1833 by the German naturalist Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied to accommodate a single species, the short-billed dowitcher.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The name combines the Ancient Greek limnē meaning "marsh" with -dromos meaning "-racer" or "-runner".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The dowitcher species are:<ref name=ioc>Template:Cite web</ref>

External links

• Template:Cite NIE