Dictionary:

dowitcher

  (dou'ĭ-chər)

Either of two shore birds (Limnodromus griseus or L. scolopaceus) of northern regions, having brownish plumage and a long, straight bill.

[Perhaps from Mohawk tawístawis, snipe.]

Is it an elderly, dignified woman, financially well endowed? No, that's a dowager. Is it perhaps a stick that, held in the hands, points to water? No, that's a dowser or divining rod, but we're getting closer. It does have to do with the water. It's a bird, a shore bird.

As bird watchers know, you don't have to look very hard to find a dowitcher, at least if you're at the seashore in the right season. You'll be looking for a bird of medium size, with dull yellowish legs, a tail that is barred black and white, and a white V that extends up its back. It will have a long straight bill if it's the long-billed dowitcher and a short straight bill if it's the short-billed dowitcher.

Dowitchers breed in the north, in arctic or subarctic regions. They nest near water in meadows and bogs. Their diet is insects, seeds, and seafood. They like to prospect for small mollusks, crustaceans, and marine worms by poking their heads rapidly up and down into soft mud, a motion that reminds bird watchers of a sewing machine.

The name dowitcher, recorded in English as early as 1841, comes from one or more of the Iroquoian Indian languages. Which one is not certain, but Mohawk is as likely as any. It is now spoken by about 3,000 people in northern New York State and adjacent areas of Canada. No other word of Mohawk is found in the general vocabulary of English.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: shorebird of the sandpiper family that resembles a snipe

Dowitchers
Long-billed Dowitcher
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Charadriiformes Family: Scolopacidae Genus: Limnodromus
Species
See text.

The three dowitchers are medium-sized long-billed wading birds. They resemble godwits in body and bill shape, and the reddish underparts in summer, but are much shorter legged, more like snipe to which they are also somewhat closer related (Thomas et al., 2004). 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.

Species are:

• Family: Scolopacidae (part)
  • Short-billed Dowitcher, Limnodromus griseus
  • Long-billed Dowitcher, Limnodromus scolopaceus
  • Asiatic Dowitcher, Limnodromus semipalmatus

References

• Thomas, Gavin H.; Wills, Matthew A. & Székely, Tamás (2004): A supertree approach to shorebird phylogeny. BMC Evol. Biol. 4: 28. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-4-28 PDF fulltext Supplementary Material

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