Hudsonian Godwit

Hudsonian Godwit
In Brazil
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Charadriiformes
Family:	Scolopacidae
Genus:	Limosa
Species:	L. haemastica
Binomial name
Limosa haemastica (Linnaeus, 1758)

The Hudsonian Godwit (Limosa haemastica) is a large shorebird.

Identification

Adults have long dark legs and a long pink bill with a slight upward curve and dark at the tip. The upper parts are mottled brown and the underparts are chestnut. The tail is black and the rump is white. They show black wing linings in flight.

Breeding

Their breeding habitat is the far north near the tree line in northwestern Canada and Alaska, also on the shores of Hudson Bay. They nest on the ground, in a well-concealed location in a marshy area. The female usually lays four eggs. Both parents look after the young birds, who find their own food and are able to fly within a month of hatching.

Migration

They migrate to South America. These birds gather at James Bay before fall migration. In good weather, many birds make the trip south without stopping. They are a vagrant to Australia.

They can perhaps be most easily seen in migration on the east coast of North America where they can be plentiful in migration in Late July through early August.

Diet

These birds forage by probing in shallow water. They mainly eat insects and crustaceans.

Conservation history

Their numbers were reduced by hunting at the end of the 19th century.

References

External links

• Hudsonian Godwit - Limosa haemastica - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
• Hudsonian Godwit Species Account - Cornell Lab of Ornithology