Asian Dowitcher Limnodromus semipalmatus Scientific name definitions

33–36 cm; 127–245 g; wingspan 57–59 cm. The largest Limnodromus, almost same size as Limosa lapponica. Face  , neck and breast chestnut-red, lower belly and flanks  mainly white; upperparts  blackish broadly fringed pale brown and chestnut, streaked rather than mottled. Noticeably larger than congeners, with fewer dark markings on neck and breast. Similar in plumage to Limosa lapponica, but smaller, with bill straighter, not tapering, differently shaped and mostly black; rump is barred (unlike Limosa l. lapponica and L. l. menzbieri) and underwing  mostly white with fine black streaking; bill normally held at lower angle. Female somewhat duller than male with more white in chestnut areas. Non-breeding adult  has pale supercilium, darkish grey-brown upperparts, grey-brown mottled breast and whitish underparts; overall darker than Limosa lapponica, with broader dark streaking above, heavier markings below and more pointed, uniform dusky tertials. Juvenile has streaks on buff neck and breast; upperparts black with narrow pale buff fringes.

Disjunct populations from W to E Siberian steppe regions, S into Mongolia and NE China; E areas may be continuous. Winters from E India through SE Asia, SE Sumatra and Java to N & E Australia.

Breeds at extensive freshwater wetlands on lake shores or in deltas and flooded areas of rivers, e.g. flooded meadows and grassy bogs, in steppe and forest-steppe zone, with short vegetation of grasses and sedges; observed feeding in rice fields. During non-breeding season, occurs in sheltered coastal environments, primarily estuarine and intertidal mudflats, muddy lagoons, tidal creeks and saltworks. Roosts, often with Limosa, on sandy beaches or in shallow lagoons.

Not well known; it has been speculated that significant numbers may pass (largely unnoticed) through inland China (1 Barter, M. A. (2002). Shorebirds of the Yellow Sea: importance, threats and conservation status. Wetlands International Global Series 9, International Wader Studies 12, Canberra, Australia. Close ). On migration occurs in small numbers in Japan, China, Hong Kong , Taiwan (2 Brazil, M. (2009). Field Guide to the Birds of East Asia: Eastern China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and Eastern Russia. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), Vietnam (where the Red River and Mekong Deltas are the most important sites) (3 Pedersen, A., S. S. Nielsen, L. D. Thuy, and L. T. Trai (1998). The status and conservation of threatened and near-threatened species of birds in the Red River Delta, Vietnam. Bird Conservation International. 8(1):31–51. Close , 4 Buckton, S. T. and R. J. Safford (2004). The avifauna of the Vietnamese Mekong Delta. Bird Conservation International 14(4):279–322. Close ), Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia (mainly in autumn) (5 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ), Borneo (6 Mann, C. F. (2008). The Birds of Borneo: An Annotated Checklist. B.O.U. Checklist 23. British Ornithologists’ Union, and British Ornithologists’ Club, Peterborough. Close , 7 van Balen, B., C. Trainor, and R. Noske (2013). Around the Archipelago. Kukila 17(1):41–72. Close ), Philippines (Luzon, Simunul, Cebu and Olango), E Kazakhstan (late May–early Jun, late Jul–mid Aug) (8 Wassink, A., and G. J. Oreel (2007). The Birds of Kazakhstan. Published privately, De Cocksdorp, Texel, The Netherlands. Close , 9 Schielzeth, H., J. Kamp, G. Eichhorn, T. Heinicke, M. A. Koshkin, L. Lachmann, R. D. Sheldon, and A. V. Koshin (2010). Wader, gull and tern population estimates for a key breeding and stopover site in Central Kazakhstan. Bird Conservation International 20(2):186–199. Close ), Uzbekistan, Mongolia and NE India; migration may occur across interior of C Asia and along SE Asian coast. Largest wintering populations are probably those of E & SE Sumatra and N Java, but winters N to Thailand; smaller numbers occur in NW Australia (no more than 500) and apparently very few in New Guinea, where just one record in Irian Jaya (10 Bostock, N. (2000). Australian Avocet in Irian Jaya. Kukila. 11: 152. Close , 11 Pratt, T. K., and B. M. Beehler (2015) Birds of New Guinea. Second edition. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA. Close ), and generally rare in Wallacea (12 Rheindt, F. E., and R. O. Hutchinson (2007). New island records and new elevational records of birds from South Maluku, Indonesia. Forktail 23:158–161. Close , 13 Tebb, G., Morris, P. and Los, P. (2008). New and interesting bird records from Sulawesi and Halmahera, Indonesia. BirdingASIA. 10: 67–76. Close , 14 Trainor, C. R. (2011). The waterbirds and coastal seabirds of Timor-Leste: new site records clarifying residence status, distribution and taxonomy. Forktail 27:63–72. Close ). Vagrant E & S to Solomons (Santa Isabel, Sept) (15 Dutson, G. (2011). Birds of Melanesia: The Bismarcks, Solomons, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ) and New Zealand (five records, all between Aug and Jan, 1985 to 2002)#R. Westernmost population may, in fact, migrate SW, to winter in Persian Gulf and on coast of Arabian Sea; presumed vagrants have turned up in Arabia (reported, perhaps erroneously, in Yemen (16 Porter, R. F., R. P. Martins, K. D. Shaw, and U. Sørensen (1996). The status of non-passerines in southern Yemen and the records of the OSME survey in spring 1993. Sandgrouse 17:22–53. Close ); documented in Oman winter 2015/16) (17 Harrison, I. (2016). From the rarities committees. Sandgrouse 38(1):124–129. Close ) and even South Africa (Nov–Dec 2004) (18 Deighton, D. (2005). First record of Asiatic Dowitcher Limnodromus semipalmatus for Africa. Bull. African Bird Club. 12(2): 156–157. Close ), whereas a published record from Kenya (Nov 1966) is now rejected. Only small numbers winter or pass through Bangladesh (highest ever count < 50) (19 Thompson, P. M., and D. L. Johnson (2003). Further notable bird records from Bangladesh. Forktail 19:85–102. Close , 20 Thompson, P. M., S. U. Chowdhury, E. Ul Haque, M. M. H. Khan, and R. Halder (2014). Notable bird records from Bangladesh from July 2002 to July 2013. Forktail 30:50–65. Close ) and in Indian Subcontinent the species is rare S to Sri Lanka, although it has been reported from the Chagos Is, and most inland reports lack substantiation (21 Rasmussen, P. C., and J. C. Anderton (2005). Birds of South Asia: the Ripley Guide. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Close ). Present in wintering areas from early Sept to late Apr. Departs wintering grounds from Mar, mostly Apr; arrives on breeding grounds early to late May. Small groups remain in winter quarters during boreal summer.

Poorly known. On breeding grounds, takes small fish, insect larvae and oligochaetes. Away from breeding grounds feeds on polychaetes, insect larvae and molluscs, following edge of receding or incoming tide. Feeds on damp ground or in shallow water  by walking and repeatedly probing deeply into mud, sometimes fully submerging head; feeds with stiff neck and typical wooden “sewing-machine” action; large prey is pulled up slowly with tremendous effort, small prey taken quickly. Gregarious, usually in pairs or small flocks, sometimes in large flocks of more than 100 birds at roosts and favoured feeding sites.

Around nest-sites, male gives hollow, booming purrs both in flight and from ground (when more guttural-sounding) in long pulsing series “hr’r’r’r’r, hr’r’r’r’r” , as well as a plaintive yelping “tye chu” and soft “kru-ru kru-ru” in other contexts. Largely silent away from breeding grounds, but occasionally gives the soft “eouw” or cat-like “miau” calls, especially in flight. Also reported to give a “chep-chep” or “cheep-chep” in flight.

Lays late May to early Jun; timing and location of breeding may vary considerably, depending on water levels. Breeds in small colonies of 6–20 pairs, with nests 4–350 m apart, often mixed with White-winged Terns (Chlidonias leucopterus); territorial. Nests in sparsely vegetated parts of breeding area; nest a shallow depression on bare ground or in vegetation, lined with grass, sometimes 8–12 cm above water that is up to 25 cm deep. Clutch two eggs, rarely three; single brood; incubation c. 22 days, by both parents; both parents tend chicks. Nests may fail due to flooding (occasionally 75% or more) and trampling by cattle. Suspected not to breed before third year of life.

Not globally threatened. Currently considered Near Threatened. Recent work in Indonesia, mostly in Sumatra, has shown that world population comprises at least 23,000 birds (22 Delaney, S. and D. Scott, Editors (2002). Waterbird Population Estimates. Third edition. Wetlands International Global Series No. 12. Wageningen, the Netherlands. Close ); previously considered rare. Important wintering sites are Banyuasin Delta (Sumatra), where up to 13,000 birds estimated in 1988, and Ujung Pangkah (E Java); significant numbers counted in Philippines, India and Thailand; on migration significant numbers occur at Hutan Bakau Pantai Timor and Tanjung Jabung (E Sumatra), Gulf of Thailand and Sheyang Saltworks (Jiangsu, China), with up to 9300 estimated to use stopover sites on China’s Yellow Sea coast (1 Barter, M. A. (2002). Shorebirds of the Yellow Sea: importance, threats and conservation status. Wetlands International Global Series 9, International Wader Studies 12, Canberra, Australia. Close ). Important wintering grounds in Sumatra partially protected within Way Kambas National Park (23 Parrott, S., and P. Andrew (1996). An annotated checklist of the birds of Way Kambas National Park, Sumatra. Kukila 8:57–85. Close ). During severe droughts in Mongolia and China, large numbers appear in N parts of breeding range, e.g. c. 6000 bred at Selenga Delta, L Baikal, in late 1970s, but many fewer by early 1990s, with even smaller numbers elsewhere in Buryatia (24 Tebb, G., and A. Ranner (2002). New significant bird records from Buryatia, Russia. Forktail 18:101–105. Close ). At present reckoned not to be in immediate danger, although dependent on rather a small number of wetlands; drainage or drying out of wetlands reduces area of suitable breeding habitat. Poorly studied  ; listed as endangered in Russian Red Data Book. Only proven record of breeding in Kazakhstan was in 1973 (ten pairs at single locality) (8 Wassink, A., and G. J. Oreel (2007). The Birds of Kazakhstan. Published privately, De Cocksdorp, Texel, The Netherlands. Close ). Population density everywhere small; numbers difficult to estimate, as typically flocks together with very similar Limosa lapponica, hampering counts and easily causing present species to be overlooked.