The Short-billed Dowitcher breeds along the coast of southern Alaska and British Columbia, in Northern Alberta and Ontario east to Labrador, wintering in the Caribbean and South America. The species is a rare migrant through Montana with fewer than seven observations reported in a typical year (Jehl et al. 2001, MTNHP 2019).
For a comprehensive review of the conservation status, habitat use, and ecology of this and other Montana bird species, please see
Marks et al. 2016, Birds of Montana.
Direct Evidence of Breeding
Indirect Evidence of Breeding
Montana is between the main migration paths of the Pacific coast and the midwest/east.
In migration, they are found in grassy marshes.