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Dowitcher

Dowitcher searching for seafood along the coast of Stratton Island. Photo Courtesy of Janine Parziale

Short-Billed Dowitcher

Early American ornithologists recognized it as a Red-breasted Snipe, while gunners called it Brownback. The usage of “dowitcher” seems to have been driven by Atlantic coast usage during the peak of the hunting era. The name was common on Long Island—a stronghold for Dutch and German immigrants while “dowitcher” or “dowitch” is derived from “Deutscher” or “Duitsch”, which