B I R D S O F N A N T U C K E T
SEWING MACHINE BIRD
BY KENNETH TURNER BLACKSHAW
From the title you might think that this bird would be a singer - nudge, nudge -

The Eastern Dowitcher Limnodromus griseus

wink, wink. But no, it refers to your first thought when seeing this chunky, long-billed sandpiper feeding in shallow water. They lean forward, head low, sometimes even submerged, as they probe rapidly up and down, stitching their way across the water.

I originally learned this bird as the Eastern Dowitcher, Limnodromus griseus, the gray marshrunner. Now that species has been split in two - the Short-billed and the Long-billed Dowitcher. This is a rather unfortunate appellation since you can't safely distinguish them by bill length. Most of the dowitchers seen on Nantucket are Short-billed.

Dowitchers are shorebirds. Larger than many of the birds we see scampering in the shallows, they are 10 to 12 inches from beak to tail and it's the variations in that long beak that make most of the difference. There's not much to the tail though, and the feet stick out just a bit beyond it in flight. What you see in flight is a gray, long-billed bird with a white triangular shape going up the back. The short tail has black horizontal bars.

Unfortunately dowitchers are not as common here on Nantucket as they are over on the Cape. Overall, their numbers are still recovering from their enormous persecution about 100 years ago. This was another bird that was shot for food until they were protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.

When you are fortunate enough to see a flock of dowitchers, you'll note that they fly rather compactly, which is fine for social interaction, but bad news if a shotgun is aimed at them. In 1840, John James Audubon wrote, "It is not at all uncommon to shoot 20 or 30 of them at once. I have been present when 127 were killed by discharging three barrels." Couple that with the species' dismaying tendency to keep returning in response to the cries of their injured flockmates, and it's amazing there are any dowitchers around for us to see at all.

Perhaps what saved t h e s e c h a r m i n g creatures is that their range is quite widespread - also the fact that they are fairly longlived, as long as 10 y e a r s . A l t h o u g h they were a l m o s t hunted out in certain a r e a s , enough of them survived for the bird to recover. There are three separate nesting populations, one in the Ungava region of northern Quebec, another from Hudson Bay west through Alberta, and another in southeastern Alaska. It is most likely the Ungava population that migrates past our beaches in April and May.

You might be saying to yourself, "So, we won't find them on Nantucket in the summer." Not true. The Arctic season is so short that the chicks are out of the nest by midJuly and the adult females are already winging their way south. The males finish the parenting duties and follow along in a few weeks.

In the bogs of the boreal forest, they lay their four eggs in a simple, grass-lined nest on the ground. Both sexes share incubation duties but once the chicks hatch, Mrs. Dowitcher flies the coop, leaving Daddy to get the kids actually flying. So the first birds arriving in July are adult females. The males and the new crop of youngsters, except in extreme cases. Even Short-billed Dowitchers have fairly long bills. I remember one at the Harbor Flats in December 2001 whose beak was so long it seemed the bird must fall on its face. In this case, hearing the accelerating "keeks" of the Long-bill instead of the rapid "tu-tu-tu" of the Short-bill as it took off, clinched the identification.

Good places to find Short-billed Dowitchers on Nantucket include the Harbor Flats at low tide, and the "bathtub" area on Eel Point. Look for them associating with the larger flocks of Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers. Their larger size and sewing machine behavior make them stand out from the rest. Both species of yellowlegs may also be found there but it's easy to separate them by their more deliberate actions, longer necks and shorter bills.

Dowitchers become scarce after the end of October and only one has ever been found as late as the end of December when we do our annual Christmas Bird Count.

Ken Blackshaw is the author of the "A Year of Birding Nantucket" series. Volume Two is currently available at island bookstores and gift shops.

Illustration by George C. West.

The Maria Mitchell Association sponsors "birdwalks" on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:30 a.m. and Saturdays at 8 a.m., starting from the Hinchman House at the corner of Vestal and Milk streets. There is a fee.

To hear about rare birds, or to leave a bird report call the Massachusetts Audubon hot line at 888-224- 6444, option 4.

Ask Ken a question at: kenandcindy@copper.net.

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