Asian Dowitcher
A species of Dowitchers Scientific name : Limnodromus semipalmatus Genus : Dowitchers
Asian Dowitcher, A species of Dowitchers
Botanical name: Limnodromus semipalmatus
Genus: Dowitchers
Content
Description
Photo By Wich'yanan (Jay) Limparungpatthanakij
Description
Adults have dark legs and a long straight dark bill, somewhat shorter than that of the long-billed dowitcher. The body is brown on top and reddish underneath in breeding plumage. The tail has a black and white barred pattern. The winter plumage is largely grey. Their breeding habitat is grassy wetlands in inland Siberia and Manchuria. They migrate to southeast Asia as far south as northern Australia, although both the breeding and wintering areas are poorly known. This bird is always found on coasts during migration and wintering. These birds forage by probing in shallow water or on wet mud. They mainly eat insects, mollusks, crustaceans and marine worms, but also eat some plant material.
Size
36 cm
Feeding Habits
Asian Dowitcher diet includes small fish, insect larvae, oligochaetes on breeding grounds, and polychaetes, more larvae, and molluscs elsewhere, following tides on damp ground or shallow water. They probe mud deeply, sometimes submerging heads, using a 'sewing-machine' action; prey size dictates pull-up speed. They're gregarious, often in small or large flocks.
Habitat
The asian Dowitcher predominantly inhabits expansive freshwater wetlands in steppe and forest-steppe zones used for breeding, favoring areas like lake shores, deltas, and flooded meadows with short grasses and sedges. It also utilizes agricultural lands, such as rice fields. Non-breeding habitats include sheltered coastal areas with estuarine mudflats, muddy lagoons, and tidal creeks, where it is often found alongside Limosa species, and roosts on sandy beaches or shallow lagoons.
Dite type
Aquatic invertebrate eater
Photo By Wich'yanan (Jay) Limparungpatthanakij
Scientific Classification
Phylum
Chordates Class
Birds Order
Shorebirds Family
Sandpipers Genus
Dowitchers Species
Asian Dowitcher