Characteristics
 The long-billed dowitcher is 11-12 inches in length. It has a long, straight black bill; long, green legs; a white lower back and rump and white eyebrows. In the summer adults have reddish underparts and barring on their breasts and sides and reddish edges on the feathers on their uppersides. Winter dowitchers are gray. Males and females look alike, but the female is slightly larger and has a longer bill.
RangeThe long-billed dowitcher breeds in western Alaska and northwestern Canada. It winters along the coast from Washington and Virginia south to Guatemala.
Habitat
 During breeding season, the long-billed dowitcher lives on the tundra. During migration and In the winter the long-billed dowitcher can be found on mudflats, marshes and at the edge of freshwater ponds and marshes.
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Diet
 The long-billed dowitcher uses its long bill to poke in the mud and find food. It looks like a sewing machine when it is feeding as its bill probes up and down. Its diet includes insect larvae, earthworms, crustaceans, moss, plant parts, seeds and snails.
Life Cycle
 The female long-billed dowitcher lays four eggs in a grass or leaf-lined nest on the ground. Both the male and female incubate the eggs. The female starts incubating the eggs while the male chases off intruders. Later, the male will take over and incubate the eggs up until the time they hatch three weeks after being laid. He will then take care of the chicks until they fledge.
Behavior
The long-billed dowitcher is very aggressive in defending its territory.
Image Credits: Clipart.com unless otherwise noted
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