Asian Dowitcher

Limnodromus semipalmatuS

Beak

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Feet

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Crest

No crest

Winter visitor to coasts of India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. From Bar-tailed Godwit by straight. broad-based all-black bill. with swollen tip; also by smaller size and stouter appearance. and square-shaped head with steeply rising forehead. Has distinctive 'sewing-machine' feeding action. in flight. shows diffuse pale wing-bar, greyish tail, and dark markings on lower back and rump. Underparts brick-red in breeding plumage, with chestnut fringes to dark feathers of mantle and scapulars. Upperparts and underparts heavily streaked in non-breeding plumage. Juvenile has buff fringes to upperparts and wash to breast. Vclce Gives a yelping ch81)-ch8por chowp and a soft moaning klaow. Intertidal mudflats and mud banks.