Biology: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.[1]
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.[2] 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.[3][4] The name combines the Ancient Greek limnē meaning "marsh" with -dromos meaning "-racer" or "-runner".[5]
The dowitcher species are:[6]
| Common name | Scientific name and subspecies | Range | Size and ecology | IUCN status and estimated population |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short-billed dowitcher
|
Limnodromus griseus (Gmelin, JF, 1789) Three subspecies
|
North America, Central America, the Caribbean, and northern South America
|
Size: Habitat: Diet: |
VU
|
| Long-billed dowitcher
|
Limnodromus scolopaceus (Say, 1822) |
North America
|
Size: Habitat: Diet: |
NT
|
| Asian dowitcher
|
Limnodromus semipalmatus (Blyth, 1848) |
Siberia and Manchuria. | Size: Habitat: Diet: |
NT
|
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References
- ↑ Dowitcher (3rd ed.), Oxford University Press, September 2005, http://oed.com/search?searchType=dictionary&q=Dowitcher (Subscription or UK public library membership required.) 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.
- ↑ Thomas, Gavin H.; Wills, Matthew A.; Székely, Tamás (2004). "A supertree approach to shorebird phylogeny". BMC Evolutionary Biology 4: 28. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-4-28. 28. PMID 15329156.
- ↑ Wied-Neuwied, Maximilian (1832) (in German). Beiträge zur Naturgeschichte von Brasilien. 4, Part xx. Weimar: Im Verlage des Landes-Industrie-Comptoirs. p. 716. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2796910.
- ↑ Peters, James Lee, ed (1934). Check-List of Birds of the World. 2. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 272. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14483085.
- ↑ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 227. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4. https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n227/mode/1up.
- ↑ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds (August 2022). "Sandpipers, snipes, coursers". IOC World Bird List Version 12.2. International Ornithologists' Union. https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/sandpipers/.
External links
Gilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds (1905). "Dowitcher". New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.
Template:Scolopacidae Template:Charadriiformes Wikidata ☰ Q838747 entry
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