Another field mark is that short-bills have more decurved bills. In the picture of the bird EBird
Identifies as a Short-billed the down curve is quite apparent, but much less so in the picture of the two Dowitchers together.
I read Cyn-tee Lee’s article on Dowitcher identification many of the differences are qualified as subtle and some cases a way of finding one species of Dowitcher in a flock of the other.
Finally there is the white feather edging on the wing covert and scapulars. On Long-bills this is just at the tips forming a straight lines, but on Short-bills it extends up the sides of the feathers forming a Vee.
I cannot say for certain what is true for these two birds
-------- Original Message --------
On Monday, 05/04/26 at 21:47 Patty McLean <plm108...> wrote:
> Hi Jacque and Ian. These look more like SBDOs to me. Admittedly I'm just looking via my cell phone but a few key features pop out. The flatness of the back vs the football shape of a LBDO, the non-descript gray panel on the wing. Look at Sibley and compare these 2 features and I think you'll come to the same conclusion. Unfortunately i can't tell much about the scapulars or whether the birds have streaks or spots along the shoulders.
>
> The bar chart indicates they should already be in Benton County by now.
>
> Please forgive me if I mislead you. I'm not good with photos on my cellphone. And, if ever in doubt, it's always best to submit as LBDO/SBDO -- but I'm sure you hate doing that, like me.
>
> Best wishes for the best birds,
> Patty
>
> -------- Original message --------
> From: JACQUE BROWN <bluebird2...>
> Date: 5/4/26 7:27 PM (GMT-06:00)
> To: <ARBIRD-L...>
> Subject: Re: Dowitchers
>
> No surprise my photos are nearly Identical and I had no problem uploading two of them to ebird. in the photos the angle of the shot does make them look shorter than they were to the eye, since they are facing towards or away from us. The birds were not really cooperative. In most of my pics they are beak deep in muck.
>
> Jacque Brown.
>
> On Monday, May 4, 2026 at 06:24:43 PM CDT, Ian MacGregor <00000489141846bd-dmarc-request...> wrote:
>
> I was with Jacque Brown at Charlie Craig today. The most exciting thing for me was my first Arkansas Hudsonian Godwit. A few minutes before we came across a couple of dowitchers. We both thought they were Long-billed, but when I tried to add the photo of one of the birds to my Ebird list, Merlin rejected it as a Short-billed. Also in the picture of both, Merlin thinks the bottom bird is Short-billed.
>
> I am including three pictures:, the bird accepted as a Long-billed, the one rejected as a Long_billed by eBird, and a picture of them both together
>
> On the single bird which is possibly a Short-billed, the bill does look short, but I that could be due to the camera angle. In the picture of the two birds together. I don't see much difference in bill length. What a I do see is the bird eBird thinks is a Short-billed has a few larger spots on its wing coverts.
>
> Merin photo id is by no means perfect. So it could simply be wrong, and bit birds are indeed Long-billed, but if one of the birds is a Short-billed, what clinches that id
>
> I am assuming tar Jacque has much better photos.
>
> Ian
>
> Sent with [Proton Mail](https://proton.me/mail/home) secure email.
>
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