CreatureData

Short-billed dowitcher

Limnodromus griseus (J. F. Gmelin, 1789)

VUVulnerablebirds

The short-billed dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus) is a species in the family Scolopacidae, order Charadriiformes. Recorded adults weigh 109.1 g to 116.2 g and live up to 10.4 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Vulnerable.

Short-billed dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus)
Photo: Rhododendrites · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the short-billed dowitcher

Weight
109.1 g – 116.2 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Wingspan
45 cm – 51 cmsrc for Wingspan
Lifespan
10.4 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
13.3 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
wetlandsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
21 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
Vulnerable (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

How big is the short-billed dowitcher?

SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER · WINGSPAN 51 CMADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 51 cm, the recorded maximum wingspan of the short-billed dowitcher is about 30% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Where does the short-billed dowitcher live?

Not recorded

What is the short-billed dowitcher?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The short-billed dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus), like its congener, the long-billed dowitcher, is a medium-sized, stocky, long-billed shorebird in the family Scolopacidae.

It is an inhabitant of North America, Central America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. It is strongly migratory; it completely vacates its breeding areas during the snow-bound months. This species favors a variety of habitats, including tundra in the north to ponds and mudflats in the south. It feeds on invertebrates often by rapidly probing its bill into mud in a sewing machine fashion. It and the very similar long-billed dowitcher were considered one species until 1950. Field identification of the two American Limnodromus remains difficult today. Distinguishing wintering or juvenile short-billed dowitchers from the long-billed species is very difficult and, even given examination of their subtlety different body shapes, cannot always be isolated to a particular species. They differ most substantially in vocalizations. The names of American dowitchers are misleading, as there is much overlap in their bill lengths. Only a small percentage can be identified by this character alone.

From the Wikipedia article “Short-billed dowitcher” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Short-billed_dowitcher&oldid=1380705005), 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 short-billed dowitcher endangered?

The short-billed dowitcher is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List: it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Vulnerable species.

How is the short-billed dowitcher classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderCharadriiformes
  5. familyScolopacidae
  6. genusLimnodromus
  7. SpeciesLimnodromus griseus (J. F. Gmelin, 1789)

Synonyms Limnogromus griseus, Macrorhamphus griseus, Scolopax noveboracensis

Other names and names in other languages (83)
  • Common dowitcherEnglish
  • DowitcherEnglish
  • Lesser snipeEnglish
  • Pond birdEnglish
  • عداء المستنقعات قصير المنقارArabic
  • Късоклюн вретенаBulgarian
  • Късоклюн вретенарBulgarian
  • Stankioc'h beg berrBreton
  • tetolet grisCatalan
  • Tetolet becllargCatalan
  • slukovec krátkozobýCzech
  • gïach brongochWelsh
  • Gïach gylfin-hirWelsh
  • Labrador SneppeklireDanish
  • Kortnæbbet SneppeklireDanish
  • MoorschlammläuferGerman
  • kleiner SchlammläuferGerman
  • Kurzschnabel-SchlammläuferGerman
  • ΛιμνοδρόμοςGreek
  • Μικρός ΛιμνοδρόμοςGreek
  • Mallongbeka tringoEsperanto
  • kurtbeka limnodromoEsperanto
  • Agujeta grisSpanish
  • Agujeta ComúnSpanish
  • Agujeta de Pico CortoSpanish
  • Agujeta PiquicortaSpanish
  • Becacina chicaSpanish
  • Becasa grisSpanish
  • CostureroSpanish
  • Costurero pico cortoSpanish
  • Playero Pico LargoSpanish
  • raba-neppvigleEstonian
  • rämekurppeloFinnish
  • Nevstuttur snípustelkurFaroese
  • Bécassin rouxFrench
  • bécassin à bec courtFrench
  • Grise à long becFrench
  • Limnodrome à bec courtFrench
  • Guilbnín gobghearrIrish
  • Bécasseaugcf
  • Mazarico escolopáceoGalician
  • Dowuitcher gob-giareManx
  • Bekasin mawon bèk longHaitian Creole
  • דוביצ'ר קצר־מקורHebrew
  • חרטומנית קצרת-מקורHebrew
  • rövidcsőrű cankógodaHungarian
  • SnípuduðraIcelandic
  • Limnodromo grigioItalian
  • Limnodromo beccocortoItalian
  • piro-piro pettorossiccio minoreItalian
  • アメリカオオハシシギJapanese
  • 짧은부리도요Korean
  • amerikinis dumbliusLithuanian
  • Jūrinis dumblinukasLithuanian
  • mazā dūņslokaLatvian
  • Burung Kedidi Paruh PanjangMalay
  • kortnebbekkasinsnipeNorwegian Bokmål
  • Grijze snipDutch
  • kleine grijze snipDutch
  • SnepiPapiamento
  • Snepi Gris ChickitoPapiamento
  • Snepi Gris ChikíPapiamento
  • szlamiec krótkodziobyPolish
  • maçarico-de-bico-curtoPortuguese
  • Maçarico-de-costa-brancaPortuguese
  • maçarico-de-costas-brancasPortuguese
  • Американский бекасовидный веретенникRussian
  • Короткоклювый бекасовидный веретенникRussian
  • короткоклювый американский бекасовидный веретенникRussian
  • RivohašNorthern Sami
  • meahkástatčoavžžuNorthern Sami
  • brežník sivýSlovak
  • kratkokljuni greznikSlovenian
  • Kratkokljuna šljukolikaSerbian
  • mindre beckasinsnäppaSwedish
  • kortnäbbad beckasinsnäppaSwedish
  • นกซ่อมทะเลปากยาวThai
  • Kısa Gagalı SuçulluğuTurkish
  • Бекас короткодзьобийUkrainian
  • короткодзьобий бекасUkrainian
  • неголь короткодзьобийUkrainian
  • 短嘴半蹼鷸Chinese
  • 短嘴半蹼鹬Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

Relatives of the short-billed dowitcher

Other species in the same genus Limnodromus.

CompareShort-billed dowitcher vs Long-billed dowitcherShort-billed dowitcher vs Asian dowitcher

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the short-billed dowitcher?

An adult short-billed dowitcher weighs 109.1 g – 116.2 g and has a wingspan of 45 cm – 51 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the short-billed dowitcher endangered?

The short-billed dowitcher is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.

How long does the short-billed dowitcher live?

The short-billed dowitcher has a recorded lifespan of 10.4 years.

What kind of animal is the short-billed dowitcher?

The short-billed dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus) 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.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Short-billed dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/short-billed-dowitcher

MLA

“Short-billed dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/short-billed-dowitcher.

BibTeX
@misc{short_billed_dowitcher_2026,
  title = {Short-billed dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/short-billed-dowitcher},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}