Plump, long-billed shorebird. Breeding adults have salmon-orange underparts with thin black and white bars on neck and sides. Very similar to Short-billed Dowitcher. Upperparts are darker than Short-billed Dowitcher; feathers have darker rufous markings and narrower white tips. Nonbreeding adult plain gray; plumage nearly identical to Short-billed. Juvenile plain brownish-gray, generally duller than Short-billed; upper wing feathers edged with rufous, lacking bright golden markings. Best separated from Short-billed Dowitcher by voice: a sharp "keek" note, sometimes given in a series, unlike lower-pitched "tututu" call of Short-billed. Also taller and more rotund than Short-billed, especially noticeable when in mixed flock. Breeds in Arctic tundra; migrates and winters in a variety of wetland habitats, especially shallow marshy pools. More likely around freshwater than Short-billed, but much overlap.