Long-billed dowitcher
Limnodromus scolopaceus (Say, 1822)
The long-billed dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus) is a species in the family Scolopacidae, order Charadriiformes. Recorded adults weigh 103.5 g to 112.5 g and live up to 8.33 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Near Threatened.
Quick facts about the long-billed dowitcher
- Weight
- 103.5 g – 112.5 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 46 cm – 52 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 8.33 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 13.3 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 20.3 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Near Threatened (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the long-billed dowitcher?
Where does the long-billed dowitcher live?
Not recorded
What is the long-billed dowitcher?
The long-billed dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus) is a medium-sized shorebird with a relatively long bill belonging to the sandpiper family, Scolopacidae. In breeding plumage, adults are characterized by a rufous head and underparts with a darker mottled back and a large white upper rump only seen in flight. They feed in various freshwater habitats with their bill underwater in a "sewing machine" motion and have a mating display where males chase females in flight. The genus, Limnodromus is Ancient Greek from limne, "marsh" and dromos, "racer". The specific scolopaceus is Neo-Latin for "snipe-like", from Latin scolopax, scolopacis, a snipe or woodcock. The English name is from Iroquois and was first recorded in 1841.
The long-billed dowitcher is similar in appearance to the short-billed dowitcher and was only recognized as a separate species in 1950. Between the two, the best distinguishing field mark is their flight call, especially in winter, when the two species' plumage can be nearly identical. However, the two species differ ecologically in their habitat preferences and breeding locations. Long-billed dowitchers generally prefer freshwater habitats, and breed in northern Alaska and Siberia; their short-billed counterparts favor saltwater habitats and breed farther east, from southern Alaska across Canada to the maritime provinces.
From the Wikipedia article “Long-billed dowitcher” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Long-billed_dowitcher&oldid=1380693987), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the long-billed dowitcher endangered?
The long-billed dowitcher is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List: it is close to qualifying as threatened.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Near Threatened species.
How is the long-billed dowitcher classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderCharadriiformes
- familyScolopacidae
- genusLimnodromus
- SpeciesLimnodromus scolopaceus (Say, 1822)
Synonyms Limnodromus griseus scolopaceus, Limnodromus scolopaceus scolopaceus, Limosa scolopacea, Macrorhamphus griseus scolopaceus, Macrorhamphus scolopaceus, Scolopax longirostris
Other names and names in other languages (88)
- شنقب طويل المنقارArabic
- عداء المستنقعات طويل المنقارArabic
- aguyonaAsturian
- Abuya de Picu LlarguAsturian
- Берингов вретенарBulgarian
- Дългоклюн вретенарBulgarian
- Stankioc'h beg hirBreton
- Cegall becllargCatalan
- tetolet becllargCatalan
- slukovec dlouhozobýCzech
- Gïach GylfinhirWelsh
- gïach gylfin-hirWelsh
- Gïachod Gylfin-HirWelsh
- langnæbbet sneppeklireDanish
- SchlammläuferGerman
- großer SchlammläuferGerman
- Langschnäbliger SchlammläuferGerman
- TundraschlammläuferGerman
- ΛιμνοδρόμοςGreek
- ΛιμνόδρομοςGreek
- Μεγάλος ΛιμνοδρόμοςGreek
- Μεγάλος λιμνόδρομοςGreek
- longbeka limnodromoEsperanto
- Agujeta SilbonaSpanish
- Agujeta de Pico LargoSpanish
- Agujeta escolopáceaSpanish
- Agujeta PiquilargaSpanish
- Becasa pico largoSpanish
- CostureroSpanish
- Costurero pico largoSpanish
- Playero Pico LargoSpanish
- uuluyaqneqCentral Yupik
- qayaruartalekCentral Yupik
- tundra-neppvigleEstonian
- پاشلک نوک درازPersian
- tundrakurppeloFinnish
- Tundrakurppelo PitkänokkakurpavikloFinnish
- SnípustelkurFaroese
- limnodrome grisFrench
- Bécassin à long becFrench
- Limnodrome à long becFrench
- Guilbnín gobfhadaIrish
- Dabhaitséar gobfhadaIrish
- Bécasseaugcf
- Mazarico escolopáceoGalician
- Dowuitcher gob-liauyrManx
- Bekasin bèk longHaitian Creole
- ארוך מקורHebrew
- חרטומנית ארוכת-מקורHebrew
- hosszúcsőrű cankógodaHungarian
- Trinillumpur Paruh-panjangIndonesian
- Trini-Lumpur PanjangIndonesian
- Trinil-lumpur paruh-panjangIndonesian
- KanaduðraIcelandic
- Limnodromo beccolungoItalian
- Limnodromo pettorossiccioItalian
- piro-piro pettorossiccio maggioreItalian
- オオハシシギJapanese
- Америкалық тарбақ шырғалақKazakh
- 긴부리도요Korean
- ilgasnapis dumbliusLithuanian
- Ežerinis dumblinukasLithuanian
- garknābja dūņslokaLatvian
- കരിപ്പ്രാക്കാടMalayalam
- Хараалжин цууцальMongolian
- LangnebbebekkasinsnipeNorwegian Bokmål
- grote grijze snipDutch
- langnebbekkasinsnipeNorwegian Nynorsk
- Snepi Gris GrandiPapiamento
- szlamiec długodziobyPolish
- maçarico-de-bico-compridoPortuguese
- Maçarico-escolopáceo-americanoPortuguese
- Sitar de nămol cu cioc lungRomanian
- американский бекасовидный веретенникRussian
- Длинноклювый американский бекасовидный веретенникRussian
- GuhkesnjunrivohašNorthern Sami
- brežník dlhozobýSlovak
- dolgokljuni greznikSlovenian
- Dugokljuna šljukolikaSerbian
- större beckasinsnäppaSwedish
- långnäbbad beckasinsnäppaSwedish
- นกซ่อมทะเลปากยาวThai
- Uzun Gagalı SuçulluğuTurkish
- неголь довгодзьобийUkrainian
- Американський бекасовидний веретенникUkrainian
- Dẽ mỏ dàiVietnamese
- 長嘴半蹼鷸Chinese
- 长嘴半蹼鹬Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the long-billed dowitcher
Other species in the same genus Limnodromus.
Asian dowitcher
Limnodromus semipalmatus
Short-billed dowitcher
Limnodromus griseus
CompareLong-billed dowitcher vs Asian dowitcherLong-billed dowitcher vs Short-billed dowitcher
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the long-billed dowitcher?
An adult long-billed dowitcher weighs 103.5 g – 112.5 g and has a wingspan of 46 cm – 52 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the long-billed dowitcher endangered?
The long-billed dowitcher is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is close to qualifying as threatened.
How long does the long-billed dowitcher live?
The long-billed dowitcher has a recorded lifespan of 8.33 years.
What kind of animal is the long-billed dowitcher?
The long-billed dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus) belongs to the family Scolopacidae in the order Charadriiformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Long-billed dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/long-billed-dowitcher
“Long-billed dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/long-billed-dowitcher.
@misc{long_billed_dowitcher_2026,
title = {Long-billed dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/long-billed-dowitcher},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}