Skip to main content Skip to navigation
Home
Today's Show: The Vulture's Iron Stomach
Black Vulture
Listen In
  • Today's Show
  • Listen
    • Daily Shows
    • Threatened
    • Grouse
    • BirdNote Presents
    • How to Listen
  • Explore
    • Field Notes
    • Sights & Sounds
    • Birdwatching
    • Resources for Educators
  • How to Help Birds
    • At Home
    • In Your Community
    • Success Stories
  • About
    • The BirdNote Story
    • The Team
    • Partners
    • For Radio Stations
    • Funding
    • Contact Us
    • FAQs
    • Support BirdNote
  • Donate

Dowitchers Get a Second Wind

A song so nice they have to sing it twice
Subscribe to the Podcast
Download
  • Share This:
  • Share to Facebook
  • Share to Twitter
  • Share to Email
Short-billed Dowitcher
© Kristine Sowl / USFWS

The two American species of dowitchers, Long-billed and Short-billed, are similar in appearance but have distinctive calls. And they’re some of the continent’s most dramatic songsters. On their northern breeding grounds, Short-billed Dowitchers ascend as high as 150 feet in the air then glide slowly earthward, singing. At the end of the glide, they may take off again for another bout of song.

Today's show brought to you by the Bobolink Foundation.

  • Full Transcript
  • Credits

BirdNote®

Dowitchers Get a Second Wind

Written by Rick Wright
 
This is BirdNote.
[Short-billed dowitcher, ML 3159] 
There are two species of American dowitchers -- the Long-billed and the Short-billed. These plump, brownish shorebirds are maddeningly similar.  But if you listen to them, you’ll be able to tell them apart. Here’s the high-pitched call of the Long-billed Dowitcher: 
[Long-billed Dowitcher 135385]
And now the low, mellow call of the Short-billed:   
[Short-billed dowitcher, ML 3161]
Those calls might seem unimpressive, but take a listen to the Short-billed Dowitcher’s breeding songs: 
[Short-billed Dowitcher, ML 43995]—lengthy extract]
The birds fly 150 feet above ground and then glide slowly earthward, their beaks wide open, as they’re making these calls. You can hear their bubbling and trilling from up to a quarter-mile away.  
[Short-billed Dowitcher, ML 43995]
At the end of the glide, the birds suddenly fall through the air and then sometimes rise again for another round of musical airborne acrobatics. 
[Short-billed Dowitcher, ML 43995]
For BirdNote, I’m Mary McCann.
Today’s show brought to you by the Bobolink Foundation.
                                    ###
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Short-billed Dowitcher, ML 3159, recorded by Arthur A. Allen; Long-billed Dowitcher 135385 recorded by M. Andersen and Martha Fischer; Short-billed Dowitcher, ML 3161, recorded by Charles Sutherland; Short-billed Dowitcher, ML 43995, recorded by William W.H. Gunn.
Senior Producer: John Kessler
Production Manager: Allison Wilson
Editor: Ashley Ahearn
Producer: Mark Bramhill
Associate Producer: Ellen Blackstone
BirdNote’s theme music was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2020 BirdNote   December 2020   Narrator: Mary McCann
 
ID#: dowitcher-01-2020-12-16         dowitcher-01

Rick Wright
Writer
Mary McCann
Narrator
Support More Shows Like This
Tagsbehavior breeding display Dowitcher

Related Resources

Short-billed Dowitcher - More at All About BirdsShort-Billed Dowitcher – More at Audubon Field GuideLong-billed Dowitcher – More at eBirdLong-billed Dowitcher – More at Audubon Field Guide

More About These Birds

Long-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus)

Limnodromus scolopaceus

Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus)

Limnodromus griseus

Sights & Sounds

Related Field Notes

September 18, 2019

Nesting Marsh Wren

By Gregg Thompson
Male Marsh Wrens will build several--as many fifteen--dome shaped shells in the reeds to woo fema
December 10, 2018

An Osprey Goes Fishing

By Gregg Thompson
The Osprey is the only North American raptor to eat fish almost exclusively, and it's well adapte

Birds connect us with the joy and wonder of nature. By telling vivid, sound-rich stories about birds and the challenges they face, BirdNote inspires listeners to care about the natural world – and take steps to protect it.

Support BirdNote

  • Daily Shows
  • Field Notes
  • BirdNote Presents
  • Sights & Sounds
  • About BirdNote
  • Contact BirdNote
Sign up for our newsletter!
  • BirdNote on Facebook
  • BirdNote on Twitter
  • BirdNote on Instagram

Copyright 2021. All rights reserved.

  • Privacy Policy