Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Long-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus)

Abundance: Rare (6 records in 3 Kentucky counties).

Status: Transient during fall (6 records); photographs (see links below).

High Count: 3 (19 October 2007; Adair County, Kentucky; Roseanna M. Denton).

Information on Records: 

18/25 October 1981 (1/1--different individuals) 1.5 km east of Rt. 551 bridge, Green River Lake, Adair County, Kentucky (Jackie B. Elmore, Sr., both records; Elmore 1982 [ first record]; Stamm 1982a [both records]).

30 November-15 December 2005 (1--basic) Fishing Creek, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton photo; Palmer-Ball and McNeeley 2006a; Palmer-Ball and McNeeley 2006b), photo (30 November 2005, Roseanna M. Denton).

29 July 2006 (1--alternate) Fishing Creek Recreation Area, Lake Cumberland, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton photo and unpubl. data).

19 October 2007 (3--basic) Casey Creek, Adair County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton photo and unpubl. data).

25 & 30 October 2007 (1--basic) Cooley's Pond, Wayne County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton photo and unpubl. data).

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: No registrations.

Habitat: The shallow margins of ponds and lakes, usually those with associated mudflats.  Dowitchers often wade in water that is as high as the tops of their legs and probe with their bills in the mud below the  surface of the water in which they are wading.

Remarks: The 1981 Adair County, Kentucky, records involved birds with different plumages; thus, two sightings are inferred.  Diagnostic call notes were heard during each observation in Adair County (Elmore 1982; Stamm 1982a), as was also true for the observation in Pulaski County, Kentucky (R. M. Denton, pers. com.).

Counties with Observations (boldfaced):

To see a map (Figure 1) displaying the data in the table above, click on the boldfaced word in this sentence.

Literature Cited