The three dowitchers are medium-sized long-billed wading birds in the genus Limnodromus.

[2] They resemble godwits in body and bill shape, and the reddish underparts in summer, but are much shorter legged, more like snipes, to which they are more closely related.

The two North American species are difficult to separate in most plumages, and were considered a single species for many years.

The Asian bird is rare and not well known.

The genus Limnodromus was introduced in 1833 by the German naturalist Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied to accommodate a single species, the short-billed dowitcher.