Short-billed Dowitcher

How to find it

Plan around the tide on the Gulf of Nicoya, because low tide opens the widest mudflats for feeding. At high tide, check the edges and walls of shrimp farm ponds, where birds rest. Freshly harvested ponds give a short feeding chance, so a local guide may know which are being drained. Listen for the throaty "tu tu tu" in flight, which can reveal a bird before you pick it out in a flock. Chomes, on the gulf, is a named spot for the species, where Short-billed Dowitchers have been reported among hundreds of plovers and Western Sandpipers.

How to recognise it

In winter plumage the Short-billed Dowitcher is a plain gray-brown above and whitish below. Summer birds are more striking, with an orange-washed chest marked with dark spots. These plumage descriptions apply to the species in general, not only to birds in Costa Rica.

The bill and wing details help with the identification:

- Short-billed has a slightly stouter bill, often drooping a little near the tip.

- Long-billed has a thinner, straighter bill and an indented look at the lower back.

- Short-billed usually shows two primary tips past the tertials, while Long-billed typically shows none.

- Short-billed tail bars are broader and paler, sometimes mottled.

The two species look almost the same, so these details work best alongside the voice.

What it sounds like

Recording: Jeff Ward, CC BY 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

The feeding method is the signature. The bird probes its bill rapidly up and down in mud, like a sewing machine, taking mostly aquatic invertebrates such as molluscs, worms and crustaceans.

Flocks wade in shallow water over coastal mudflats. They often seem tame and allow a close approach while busy feeding.

Around the Gulf of Nicoya, birds rest on the edges and walls of shrimp ponds at high tide, so the tide shapes when they feed and when they sit quietly.

Where it lives

On its winter grounds this dowitcher uses coastal mudflats, brackish lagoons, mangrove coasts, and salt and shrimp ponds. That describes the species across its range.

In Costa Rica the Gulf of Nicoya is the key area. At low tide it exposes the biggest mudflats in the country, the kind of open mud where dowitchers feed. Shrimp farm ponds around the gulf are used too. Palo Verde National Park, in Guanacaste at the head of the gulf, includes the species on its bird checklist.

Similar birds

The Long-billed Dowitcher looks almost the same, and voice is the best clue. Long-billed gives a higher single "keek", while Short-billed gives a medium-pitched, repeated "tututu". Bill length alone is an unreliable way to separate them, so check the wing tips and tail bars too.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

Costa Rican Spanish names are Agujeta Común and Agujeta Gris. Some lists use the combined name Agujeta Común/Silbona with the Long-billed Dowitcher, which is itself called Agujeta Silbona or Agujeta Piquilarga. Elsewhere it is Costurero Pico Corto in Mexico and Agujeta Piquicorta in Panama.

Status and conservation

The AOCR list marks it as M, a migrant, and in 2024 the IUCN raised the species from Least Concern to Vulnerable.

Photography tips

Because flocks often seem tame and allow a close approach while busy feeding, patience at the edge of the mud can be rewarded. Watch the shrimp pond edges and walls at high tide, when birds rest, and freshly harvested ponds for a short feeding window.