Distribution

Breeding Range

Figure 1 . Breeds throughout w. Alaska (largely west of 160° W) from Hooper Bay north (Pitelka 1950), throughout n. Alaska south to foothills of Brooks Range, and east along Arctic coast to w. Mackenzie (Godfrey 1986, Armstrong 1995). Uncommon breeder in the Hooper Bay region (Brandt 1943); possible breeder west of Bethel (Gabrielson and Lincoln 1959); breeding may be sympatric with Short-billed Dowitcher in area from Kuskokwim to Goodnews Bays, AK (F. Pitelka pers. comm.). Rare breeder on St. Lawrence I. (Sealy et al. 1971). Common breeder on Seward Peninsula (Kessel 1989). On North Slope of Alaska more abundant farther inland from coast (Pitelka 1974, Johnson and Herter 1989). Breeding records in foothills of Brooks Range along upper Kaolak River (Maher 1959) and Colville River drainage (Kessel and Cade 1958). Uncommon breeder in Prudhoe Bay region of Alaska (Hohenberger et al. 1994); some may breed to Franklin Bay, Northwest Territories (Pitelka 1950, Johnson and Herter 1989). Postbreeders on coast at Colville River Delta, AK, made up <1% of total shorebirds observed (Andres 1989).

Winter Range

Difficulty in separating this species from the Short-billed Dowitcher in Basic plumage has led to difficulties in determining parts of the Long-billed’s winter range, especially where overlap exists in the winter ranges of the two species; records in these cases may be identified simply as “dowitchers.” Description of U.S. portion of winter range based on birds identified as Long-billed Dowitcher on Christmas Bird Counts, unless otherwise indicated. Along the Pacific coast, winters in small numbers in extreme sw. British Columbia (Fraser Lowlands and se. Vancouver I.; Campbell et al. 1997), in the Puget Sound of nw. Washington, along the immediate Pacific coast from Washington south to s. California, the Willamette Valley of w. Oregon (Gilligan et al. 1994), the Central Valley of w. California, the Salton Sea of se. California (Pitelka 1950, Shuford et al. 1993, 1994a, 1998), and a few birds in the Reno-Fallon area of w. Nevada. Along the immediate Atlantic coast, winters from n. North Carolina (rarely north to New Jersey; Walsh et al. 1999), Long Island, NY (Levine 1998), and Connecticut (Zeranski and Baptist 1990) south to n. Florida. Winter range extends from s. California south throughout Baja California, from s. Arizona (primarily along lowermost Colorado River; Rosenberg et al. 1991, and along Gila, Salt, and w. Verde Rivers), s. New Mexico (primarily along lower Rio Grande River and occasionally the lower Pecos Valley; Hubbard 1978), and the Texas border south throughout Mexico to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (including w. Campeche), and along the immediate Pacific coasts of Chiapas, Mexico; Guatemala; and El Salvador (Howell and Webb 1995). Winter range also extends throughout the Florida Peninsula (Stevenson and Anderson 1994) and west along the immediate Gulf Coast to Mississippi, throughout s. Louisiana (including inland rice-producing areas; Remsen et al. 1991, S. Skagen unpubl.), throughout s. Texas (primarily south of 30° N; S. Skagen unpubl.), along the Rio Grande River of w. Texas, and portions of w.-central Texas (e.g., Howard and Lubbock Cos.).

Possibly also winters in small numbers in the West Indies (Raffaele et al. 1998) and along both coasts of Costa Rica and Panama (Ridgely and Gwynne 1989, Stiles and Skutch 1989) but difficult to separate from far more numerous Short-billed Dowitcher in these areas. One winter record in Bermuda Aug 1969–Apr 1970 (Amos 1991). In South America, a few unconfirmed reports from Colombia, w. Ecuador, w. Peru, and Argentina (Zotta 1942, Hilty and Brown 1986).

Breeding Range

In e. Siberia, from lower Yana River to Chukotka Peninsula and Anadyr Lowlands (Flint et al. 1984). Reported westward expansion in Russia (Tomkovich 1992), with farthest western record from Dudypta River basin on sw. Taimyr Peninsula (Steeves and Holohan 1995). Breeds on Kolyma Delta (Holohan and Schmidt 1993) and sporadically on Chukotka Peninsula and Wrangel I. (Portenko 1981, Stishof et al. 1991). Rare on Indigirka River Delta (Pearce et al. 1999). Commonly nests inland along rivers draining to East Arctic Sea of Siberia (Kistchinski 1988). Along Bering Sea, penetrates south to Kamchatka isthmus (P. Tomkovich pers. comm.), including area north of Talovskoe Lake and Avya River (Gerasimov et al. 1999).

Wintering Range

Most Siberian breeding Long-billed Dowitchers likely migrate to the Americas during the winter. Almost annual vagrant in Great Britain and Ireland, usually Sep and Oct, mostly juveniles (Nisbet 1961, Pitelka 1961, Hayman et al. 1986). Vagrant also in w. Europe from Finland to Spain (Hayman et al. 1986). Fall records from Germany (Glutz von Blotzheim et al. 1977); spring and fall records from France (Yésou 1982). In Africa, single report of dowitcher from Morocco (Urban et al. 1986) likely Long-billed since trans-Atlantic Limnodromus records in Europe much more likely Long-billed. Some Long-billed Dowitchers winter in Asia; uncommon in Japan (Wild Bird Society of Japan 1982, Brazil 1991). Rare but regular migrant and occasional winter resident in Hawaiian Is. (Pratt et al. 1987).

The relatively recent separation of dowitchers into two species makes it difficult to elucidate historical records and determine historical changes in distribution. Reported westward expansion in Russia (Tomkovich 1992), with increased range since 1920s (Kistchinski 1988).

Earliest fossil record from Plio-Pleistocene and late Pleistocene in Rock Springs, FL (Emslie 1998).