Short-billed Dowitcher
Short-billed Dowitcher has edged down: down 11% on the route-weighted index since 1985.
About the Short-billed Dowitcher
The Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus) is a North American member of the Sandpipers & Allies (Scolopacidae). In this analysis it is grouped with the shorebirds.
- Size
- 5–26 in long (13–66 cm) — a probing shorebird (typical for the family)
- Habitat
- Shorelines, mudflats, beaches, flooded fields and wet meadows.
- Diet
- Invertebrates probed or picked from mud, sand and shallow water.
- Range
- Recorded on 15 Breeding Bird Survey routes across 1 state, most concentrated in the BCR 2.
- Family
- Scolopacidae · Shorebirds
Notable Short-billed Dowitcher Trends
No notable trend signals for Short-billed Dowitcher. See the full index history below.
Short-billed Dowitcher Population Forecast
If the recent trend holds, Short-billed Dowitcher is projected to stay roughly flat through 2029, near 0.00 (95% range 0.00–0.01). A 5-year backtest shows a typical error of ±199.8%, with 100% of held-out values landing inside the 95% band.
| Year | Projected index | 95% low | 95% high |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.01 |
| 2026 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.01 |
| 2027 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.01 |
| 2028 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.01 |
| 2029 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.01 |
Where the Short-billed Dowitcher Is Detected
BBS routes recording Short-billed Dowitcher, sized by most recent count.
Short-billed Dowitcher Population Trend by State
| Alaska | -58% | 1985 | 15 |
Short-billed Dowitcher Population Trend by Region
Bird Conservation Regions are the ecological unit for trends.
| BCR 2 | -50% | 1993 | 8 |
Short-billed Dowitcher Conservation Status
Our route-weighted index shows it down about 10% since 1985. Many shorebirds have declined steeply, reflecting pressure on the coastal and wetland stopovers they depend on.
Source: USGS North American Breeding Bird Survey, retrieved 2026-05-22. Trend is a route-weighted relative-abundance index, not an absolute population.