Short-billed Dowitcher
Published 6:34 pm Saturday, August 3, 2019
- (Becky Harrison | Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge)
At Pea Island Refuge, you most frequent see the Short-billed Dowitcher in the mudflats and along the impoundments. But like the two pictured, you might also see them on the beach. Their breeding plumage is on display with rufous (reddish) underparts and dense spotting. They feed on some plant seeds and tubers, but mostly focus on a wide variety of crustaceans, invertebrate, insect larvae, beetles, spiders, mosquitoes, flies, midges, snails, etc.