Species
Marbled godwit
Limosa fedoa
A tall, cinnamon wader with a long, pink-based, slightly upturned bill, wintering on Georgia's mudflats.
Photo Ken-ichi Ueda (opens in a new tab) / iNaturalist, CC BY 4.0 (opens in a new tab)
At a glance
- Size
- About 42 to 48 cm long
- Weight
- About 280 to 450 g
- Habitat
- Mudflats, beaches and salt marshes
- Diet
- Marine worms, clams, crabs and insects
- In Georgia
- An uncommon winter visitor on the coast
- Voice
- A loud, laughing "ker-whit"
- Rabies vector
- No
Identification
- Key marks
- Large, warm brown shorebird; long, slightly upturned bill, pink at the base and black at the tip; cinnamon underwings
- Told apart from
- Long-billed curlew, whose bill curves down
- Told apart from
- Willet, which has a straight, thick grey bill
- Where to look
- Mudflats and sandbars at low tide in winter
Behaviour
Marbled godwits probe deep into mud and sand with their long bills, often burying the whole bill and part of the head.
Why they matter
Marbled godwits breed on the northern Great Plains and winter on coasts. They are a sign of healthy mudflats, which also feed many other shorebirds and fish.
Reproduction and lifecycle
Nest — A scrape in short grass
Eggs — Usually four
Incubation — About 23 to 26 days
Chicks — Leave the nest within a day
Flight — At about three to four weeks
Lifespan — Wild birds over twenty-five years are recorded
Living around people
- Mudflat disturbance at low tide cuts into their feeding time.
Misconceptions
- An upturned bill means a young bird. It is the adult godwit's normal shape.
Related species
Seasonal activity
When this species is breeding, and when there are nests on the ground. Mowing during the shaded months is how most nests are found.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breeding | Jan: no | Feb: no | Mar: no | Apr: no | May: no | Jun: no | Jul: no | Aug: no | Sep: no | Oct: no | Nov: no | Dec: no |
| Active nests | Jan: no | Feb: no | Mar: no | Apr: no | May: no | Jun: no | Jul: no | Aug: no | Sep: no | Oct: no | Nov: no | Dec: no |
| Notes | Wintering | Wintering | Leaving | Nesting on the northern prairies | Nesting | Chicks | Adults moving to coasts | Migrants arriving | Migrants | Wintering birds settle | Wintering | Wintering |
Where it lives
Recorded in 55 states and provinces. Each one links to the other animals there, and to the rehabilitators licensed for them.
United States
- Alabamain winter
- Alaskabreeding
- Arizonapassing through
- Californiain winter
- Coloradopassing through
- Delawarepassing through
- Floridain winter
- Georgiain winter
- Idahopassing through
- Iowapassing through
- Kansaspassing through
- Louisianain winter
- Massachusettsin winter
- Minnesotabreeding
- Mississippiin winter
- Montanabreeding
- Nebraskapassing through
- Nevadapassing through
- New Jerseyin winter
- New Mexicopassing through
- North Carolinain winter
- North Dakotabreeding
- Oklahomapassing through
- Oregonin winter
- Rhode Islandpassing through
- South Carolinain winter
- South Dakotabreeding
- Texasin winter
- Utahpassing through
- Virginiain winter
- Washingtonin winter
- Wyomingpassing through
Canada
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