This medium-sized shorebird is the most common dowitcher in eastern Oregon and inland locations, where it sometimes gathers in large flocks feeding in shallow water. It is also the only dowitcher in the state that regularly winters.

Although breeding plumage adults are reddish below and heavily patterned above, most birds seen in Oregon are duller postbreeding adults or browner immatures. During winter, when shorebirds are hard to find, a small flock of chattering dowitchers, even in plain gray basic plumage, often brightens a day in western Oregon.

In migration, it can be found at almost any shallow water site in the state, from Malheur Lake to small potholes in the western interior valleys and the mudflats of the outer coast. Winter distribution is more limited with most birds on the coast.

Hear the call of the Long-billed dowitcher

Photo by Kathy Munsel, ODFW