Marbled Godwit
Marbled Godwit
Limosa fedoa
At a Glance
This big cinnamon-colored sandpiper inhabits the northern Great Plains in summer. When it leaves the prairies, the Marbled Godwit goes to coastal regions and becomes quite gregarious. Large flocks roost together in the salt meadows at high tide, or stand together in shallow water above the flats, probing deeply in the mud with their long bills.
All bird guide text and rangemaps adapted from Lives of North American Birds by Kenn Kaufman© 1996, used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Category
Sandpiper-like Birds, Sandpipers
IUCN Status
Least Concern
Habitat
Coasts and Shorelines, Saltwater Wetlands
Region
Alaska and The North, California, Eastern Canada, Florida, Great Lakes, Mid Atlantic, New England, Northwest, Plains, Rocky Mountains, Southeast, Southwest, Texas, Western Canada
Behavior
Direct Flight, Running
Population
170.000
Range & Identification
Migration & Range Maps
Migrates in flocks. Most birds move to coastal regions in winter. Some reach South America, but most winter north of Panama. A few birds (possibly one-year-olds) remain on winter range throughout the summer.
Description
18" (46 cm). A very large sandpiper, evenly warm brown, with dark barring (heavier in summer). Long, slightly upcurved bill has pink at base. In flight, shows bright cinnamon in wings. Long-billed Curlew has similar pattern but different bill shape.
Size
About the size of a Crow, About the size of a Mallard or Herring Gull
Color
Brown, Pink, Tan
Wing Shape
Broad, Pointed, Tapered
Tail Shape
Rounded, Short, Square-tipped
Songs and Calls
A loud kerreck or god-wit, usually heard on breeding grounds.
Call Pattern
Rising, Undulating
Call Type
Raucous, Scream, Whistle
Habitat
Prairies, pools, shores, tideflats. Breeds mostly on northern Great Plains, in areas of native prairie with marshes or ponds nearby. Localized populations also nest on tundra at James Bay, Ontario, and on Alaska Peninsula. In migration and winter around tidal mudflats, marshes, ponds, mainly in coastal regions.
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Behavior
Eggs
4, rarely 3-5. Greenish to olive-buff, lightly spotted with brown. Incubation is probably by both parents, 21-23 days. Incubating bird may sit motionless even when approached closely.
Young
Downy young leave nest soon after hatching. Both parents tend young, but young find all their own food. Age of young at first flight roughly 3 weeks.
Feeding Behavior
On mudflats and in marshes, forages mostly by probing in water or mud with long bill. Often wades and probes so deeply that head is underwater. Finds most food by touch; may feed by day or night. On prairies, also picks up insects from surface of ground or plants.
Diet
Includes insects, mollusks, crustaceans. In summer on prairies, feeds mostly on insects, including many grasshoppers; also roots and seeds of various aquatic plants, such as sedges and pondweeds. On coast, feeds on mollusks, marine worms, crustaceans, other invertebrates.
Nesting
May nest in loose colonies. Male displays over breeding territory by flying over area, calling loudly. On ground, members of pair may go through ritualized nest-scrape making display. Nest site is on ground, usually in short grass on dry spot fairly close to water (sometimes far from water). Nest is slight depression, lined with dry grass. Occasionally has slight canopy of grass arranged above nest.
Conservation
Conservation Status
Numbers were reduced by market hunting during 19th century; some recovery since, but now declining again as more of its nesting habitat is converted to farmland.
Climate Threats Facing the Marbled Godwit
Choose a temperature scenario below to see which threats will affect this species as warming increases. The same climate change-driven threats that put birds at risk will affect other wildlife and people, too.