Hudsonian Godwit Identification Guide

Overview

The Hudsonian Godwit (Limosa haemastica) is a large, elegant shorebird famous for one of the longest nonstop migratory flights of any bird, breeding in isolated Arctic and subarctic pockets and wintering primarily in southern South America.

Key Field Marks

• Size & shape: Large shorebird, about 14.5-16.5 inches (37-42 cm), with long legs, a long neck, and a very long, slightly upturned bill.
• Bill: Long, straight to slightly upcurved, bicolored — pinkish-orange at the base transitioning to black toward the tip.
• Breeding plumage: Rich chestnut-cinnamon underparts with dense dark barring across the breast and belly; mottled brown-gray back.
• Non-breeding plumage: Plain gray-brown above and pale grayish below, much less distinctive than breeding plumage, requiring attention to structure and flight pattern.
• In flight: Diagnostic black tail with a narrow white band at the base (white uppertail coverts), and blackish underwing coverts/axillars contrasting with paler flight feathers — a key mark separating it from other godwits.
• Legs: Long, dark bluish-gray to blackish legs.

Separating Hudsonian Godwit from Similar Species

Marbled Godwit

• Marbled Godwit is larger and buffier overall with warm cinnamon-buff underwings (not blackish) and an all-buffy, mottled plumage lacking the Hudsonian's contrasting black tail/white rump band.

Bar-tailed Godwit

• Bar-tailed Godwit shows a finely barred tail (not solid black) and lacks the bold blackish underwing of Hudsonian Godwit; non-breeding birds are grayer and more streaked.

Black-tailed Godwit

• Very similar in flight pattern (black tail, white base), but Black-tailed Godwit has a bold white wing stripe across the flight feathers that Hudsonian Godwit lacks, along with paler (not blackish) underwing coverts.

Willet

• Willet is stockier with a shorter, straighter, thicker bill and a bold black-and-white wing stripe pattern in flight, quite different from the godwit's slim, long, subtly upturned bill.

Habitat and Range

Hudsonian Godwits breed in scattered, disjunct locations across the Arctic and subarctic — notably around Hudson Bay, the Mackenzie Delta area, and coastal western Alaska. They undertake an extraordinary migration, with some populations flying nonstop for thousands of miles over the Atlantic or Pacific from staging areas to wintering grounds in southern South America (Argentina, Chile). During migration, look for them at coastal mudflats, flooded fields, and prairie wetlands, especially in spring on the Great Plains.

Seasonal Occurrence

A scarce and localized breeder in the Arctic (June-August). Migration windows are narrow and geographically concentrated — spring migrants pass through the central Great Plains (notably prairie Canada and the northern Plains states) in April-May, while fall migrants often stage on the Atlantic coast (e.g., James Bay, New England) before making long oceanic flights south, mainly August-September. Wintering birds are found in South America, essentially absent from North America in winter.

Behavior

Hudsonian Godwits forage by probing deeply into mud and shallow water for invertebrates, often wading up to the belly. They are known for forming large pre-migratory flocks that stage at key stopover sites before undertaking exceptionally long nonstop overwater flights, one of the most impressive migratory feats among shorebirds.

Voice

Calls include a sharp, rising "toe-wit" or "ta-wit" and various excited chattering notes given in flight or when flushed. Vocalizations are given mainly on the breeding grounds and during migration flocking; birds are relatively quiet on the wintering grounds.