SPECIES

Hudsonian Godwit Limosa haemastica Scientific name definitions

Brad M. Walker, Nathan R. Senner, Chris S. Elphick, Joanna Klima, and Gabriela Contreras
Version: 1.1 — Published February 9, 2024

Breeding

Introduction

Many aspects of breeding biology remain poorly known. Much of the information that follows is based on limited observations, small sample sizes, or inference from closely related species.

Phenology

Pair Formation

No evidence of pairing prior to arrival on breeding ground; males begin to arrive before females (see Migratory Behavior). Pair formation begins as soon as both sexes arrive; display is seen over coastal feeding areas within a few days of arrival in southern Alaska, where the Hudsonian Godwit appears to pair within a day or two, then move to nesting areas a few days later. By the first week of May in southern Alaska, the bird is generally paired and displaying over breeding territories (L. Tibbitts, personal communication, CSE). Breeding activities occur later at other sites; the earliest breeding activity in western Alaska begins in the last third of May (62).

Nest-Building

Never described, hence little information on timing; it presumably occurs during mid-May in Alaska, later elsewhere.

First/only Brood per Season

Figure 1. Because of the short season at high latitudes, there is only 1 brood/yr. Average first lay date is May 14 ± 6.5 days (n = 9) in Susitna Flats, Alaska. In Churchill, Manitoba, the initial lay dates come later, with an average of June 13 ± 7.6 days (n = 9). Hatching at Churchill recorded 26 Jun–18 Jul (2, J. R. Jehl, Jr., personal communication, Senner et al., unpublished data); in Susitna Flats, Alaska between 24 May and 22 June. Most broods at Churchill hatch within a span of 2 weeks (2).

Renesting propensity likely depends on climatic conditions during the breeding season. In Churchill, during warm years, 31% of pairs with depredated first nests renested (n = 13), while in cold years, 0% did (n = 5). In Susitna Flats, 75% of pairs with depredated first nests renested (n = 8) (Senner et al., unpublished data).

Nest Site

Selection Process

Multiple scrapes are created within a territory early on during the breeding season. Scrapes appear to be reused or improved upon from year to year and renests within one season often occupy a scrape made at the beginning of that breeding season (Senner et al., unpublished data). It is unknown if the female makes the ultimate decision or how this process may play out.

Site Characteristics

Most nests are placed on dry tops of hummocks, often under dwarf birch, in string-hummock or sedge marsh; occasionally in a tussock of grass or sedge-tundra marsh (2). The incubating bird is usually well concealed by surrounding vegetation, with some nests concealed from above by overhanging birch, rhododendron, or larch twigs. Tallest shrubs within 1 m of 4 nests in southern Alaska ranged from 16-cm spruce sapling to 2-m Spirea bush; vegetation within 1 m of these nests predominantly sweet gale, moss, and grass, with smaller amounts of rushes, sedges, forbs, lichens, Potentilla, small shrubs, and spruce saplings (L. Tibbitts, personal communication). At Churchill, nests are located on top of hummocks about 110 × 50 cm, and 25 cm high, with tallest sedges and grasses 40 cm high (n = 8; J. R. Jehl, Jr., personal communication, JK); nests are rarely within one meter of a full-grown tree (1-2 m tall), average cover of .9% (n = 40). Sedges account for a majority of vegetation covering hummocks (Water Sedge (Carex aquatilus) and Tufted Bulrush (Scirpus caespitosus) being the most abundant); the rest are comprised of birch, dwarf rhododendron (Rhododendron lapponicum), trailing willow (most commonly Salix arctophila), bog rosemary (Andromeda polifolia), blueberry (Vaccinium uliginosum), and sphagnum mosses (Senner et al., unpublished data). There are no known preferences regarding orientation of hummock, or location of the nest on the hummock.

Nest

Construction Process

No information. In other godwit species, the male makes the nest cup by scraping ground with feet and placing vegetation in scrape; the female sometimes helps (15, 105).

Structure and Composition

The nest is a saucer-shaped depression, pressed into moss or other underlying vegetation. The nest cup may be lined with only a few dead leaves, possibly blown in, or with more substantial lining consisting of, for example, dry leaves of sweet gale and willow, sedge leaves up to 8 cm long, leaves of Potentilla and bog rosemary, twigs 1–5 cm long, spruce needles and twigs, bits of birch, grass, moss, and lichens (2, L. Tibbitts personal communication, CSE). Nest often has 2 entrances (JK); see Incubation, below.

Dimensions

Average nest width is 14.3 cm; depth, 4.3 cm. Nests are found 0.2–1.0 m above the waterline, but this varies throughout the season with rainfall (n = 26 nests in Churchill, Manitoba; Senner et al., unpublished data).

Microclimate

No information.

Maintenance or Reuse of Nests

Two instances of nest reuse were recorded in Susitna Flats, Alaska. Two pairs reused nests from the previous season. Neither pair was successful in the second year, but there is not enough data to draw a conclusion. No known instances of alternate nests. One instance in Churchill, Manitoba, of the appropriation of a Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus) nest (with eggs) by a godwit. This nest ultimately held eight eggs—4 godwit and 4 dowitcher—although the dowitcher eggs were eventually pushed to the side and left unincubated. It is not known if these dowitcher eggs were from that year or the previous year (Senner et al., unpublished data).

Nonbreeding Nests

Not known.

Eggs

Shape

Ovate pyriform.

Size

In Churchill, average size 53.1 x 35.6 mm (n = 136 eggs over a three year period). 53.1 × 36.1 mm (n = 11 eggs from 3 Alaska clutches; L. Tibbitts, M. Spindler, Senner et al., unpublished data). Extremes for all sites combined: length 48.0–60.6 mm, width 33.1–41.2 mm.

Mass

Average mass of 8 eggs (2 clutches) from Alaska 31.6 g (range 30–34).

Eggshell Thickness

No information.

Color and Surface Texture

Variable. In Alaska, the ground color is most commonly Grayish Olive (43; capitalized color names and numbers follow Smithe (25)), but also Olive Gray (42) and Pearl Gray (81); also described as olive buff, light brownish olive, and greenish; darker than yellowlegs' eggs. Sparingly marked with darker spots, including Dark Drab (119B), Grayish Horn (91), Brownish Olive (29), and Olive Brown (28); spots quite small (< 3 mm) and finely speckled over egg, irregularly distributed, usually concentrating around larger end (27, L. Tibbitts, personal communication, CSE). Little or no gloss (JK).

Clutch Size

Clutch size is typically 4. Of 52 clutches from Churchill thought to be complete, 4% had 2 eggs, 4% 3 eggs, 92% 4 eggs (mean 3.88; J. R. Jehl, Jr., personal communication); of 7 complete clutches in Alaska, 2 had 3 eggs and 5 had 4 eggs (L. Tibbitts, personal communication). Partially depredated nests are often abandoned, but pairs may continue brooding the remaining eggs.

Egg Laying

No data on timing in relation to nest completion. Eggs are generally laid in the late morning. The female will return to the territory and move furtively toward the nest. Laying happens relatively soon after the female is settled on the nest. She then leaves quickly after the egg has been laid. The male is generally present in the territory, more often during the egg-laying period than is the female. Egg laying, in total, takes 5 d for a 4-egg clutch (Senner et al., unpublished data).

Intraspecific egg-dumping is not known. In Churchill, a pair displaced a Short-billed Dowitcher pair from their nest, pushing the eggs to the outside and replacing them with their own.

Incubation

Onset of Broodiness and Incubation in Relation to Laying

Continuous incubation begins after the third egg is laid—first by the male and then alternating on a roughly 12-hour rotation (2) (Senner et al., umpublished data). Intermittent incubation may occur earlier, either during the day or night (J. R. Jehl, Jr., personal communication).

Incubation Patches

Two, symmetrical ovals; well defined in both sexes.

Incubation Period

At 10 nests, 22.5 d (163) (Senner et al., unpublished data).

Parental Behavior

All details below are based on observations of 4 nests at Churchill by JK, unless otherwise noted. Both sexes incubate, females mainly by day (approx. 0600–1830 ± 1 h), males by night. Changeover schedule varies greatly among pairs. When not incubating, individuals feed, preen, rest, monitor territories from hummocks and treetops, take part in displays with conspecifics, and deter predators (seePredation). The off-duty bird spends most time away from the nest-site but probably often within hearing distance, as more often than not it responds to prolonged alarm calls of an incubating male (97).

The incubating bird may sit without moving for several hours; it usually does not change the direction it faces during an incubation bout. When eggs are well pipped, incubating adults often reposition themselves. The incubating female usually does not react in any visible or audible way to her mate's calls nor to his flying over the nest. Only sporadically is the female heard to call in duet with conspecific displaying overhead (see Vocalizations). Aggressive behavior toward predators intensifies a few days before hatching (see Hatching).

During nest exchanges, the off-duty bird flies in calling, and lands about 15–60 m from the nest. The incubating bird usually rises and looks around, while its partner stands and calls for 1–2 min—a dynamic, hard to localize, whit, whit-wheet, toe-wit, toe wit —before flying to within a few meters of the nest. The new arrival approaches slowly, sometimes climbing hummocks and looking around. During the approach, the bird may engage in false feeding (even with bill-cleaning motions) and false preening. The incubating individual flies straight out from nest, without calling. The new incubator stands 2–5 s, then slowly enters the nest, sits high for a moment looking around, rolls the eggs, and settles down.

The nest has 2 entrances, almost opposite (n = 8 nests). The Hudsonian Godwit enters only through these entrances and usually faces one while incubating. When the individual returns to the nest after being flushed or to exchange duties, it positions itself facing the opposite direction that it had faced before (n = 13 returns at 4 nests, JK).

At least in some pairs, changeover occurs at the same time each day until the eggs are well-pipped, although at Susitna Flats, where non-incubating individuals often feed on nearby intertidal flats, changeover may occur more in line with tidal schedules (Senner et al., unpublished data). Then shift lengths change, and the male spends most of the day close to the nest, watching from a high hummock 20–60 m from the nest. The off-duty bird is rarely observed so close to the nest earlier in incubation, except when responding to its mate's alarm calls. If a bird that has been flushed from a nest is slow to return, its mate may take over incubation (JK).

Hardiness of Eggs against Temperature Stress; Effect of Egg Neglect

One pair appeared to abandon its nest for two days in late incubation because of a disturbance, but returned and the eggs hatched on time (Senner et al., unpublished data).

Hatching

Preliminary Events and Vocalizations

Eggs begin to show cracks 3–4 d before hatching. When the first pip holes appear, the parents become more aggressive toward intruders. When chicks start hatching, the incubating parent becomes even more unlikely to flush from the nest, often remaining completely still until the threat is inches away. The non-incubating parent becomes much more hostile to predators during this period.

Shell-Breaking and Emergence

Most common hatching pattern is for the first 2-3 eggs to hatch beginning in mid-to-late afternoon and the final egg(s) to hatch the following morning; hatch has not been observed to last for longer than one day (2, JK, Senner et al., unpublished data). Chicks leave the eggshells through large, asymmetrical openings (2).

Parental Assistance and Disposal of Eggshells

Parental assistance in hatching has not been observed. Parents will remove eggshells (J. R. Jehl, Jr., personal communication). One or 2 eggshells might be left in the nest after the departure of the brood (2, JK).

Young Birds

Condition at Hatching

Chicks are precocial, covered with down at hatching. In Churchill, neonatal mass, 24.9 g; culmen length, 15.7 mm; head length, 38.3 mm; diagonal tarsus 35.2 mm (n = 80). Mean measurements for chicks found in nest cups at Susitna Flats: mass, 25.0 g (n = 106); culmen, 16.8 mm (n = 122); diagonal tarsus, 35.4 mm (n = 122); head length, 38.2 mm (n = 122). One chick with mass of 23.3 g had yolk sac 2.2 g (J. R. Jehl, Jr., personal communication). Egg teeth present on tip of upper and lower mandibles; lost as soon as bill dries (164, Senner et al., unpublished data).

Chicks are able to walk, swim as soon as dry. In favorable weather, they start wandering from the parent within an hour or 2 of drying. As soon as the chicks leave the nest, they respond to parents' alarm calls by squatting and freezing. They sometimes react to other calls by returning to the nest. In one case, the brood was observed to wander 200 m from the nest within 1.5 h after leaving it (JK). See Plumages.

Growth and Development

See Vocalizations. Chicks are capable of flight in about 26 d, but often do not undertake flight, even when disturbed, until > 30 d (72, Senner et al., unpublished data).

In Churchill and Susitna Flats, newly hatched birds were tracked and measured weekly until fledging. In the first week, chicks showed an average of 10.9% (± 5.8) increase in mass (n = 32); during the second week, chicks increased mass by 17.1% (± 5.1, n = 13). See Figure 4 for measurements of chicks grown in captivity (Senner et al. unpublished data).

Mean measurements of four recently fledged birds in late July: flattened wing, 201 mm; diagonal tarsus, 61 mm; culmen, 68.8 mm; total head length, 104.8 mm; mass, 234.5 g (L. Tibbitts, unpublished data); 2 birds were distinctly smaller in all measures, raising the possibility that sexual size dimorphism was already evident at this age.

Parental Care

Both parents provide care. While at the nest, the female does not prevent chicks from wandering, or touch or direct them with her bill. She calls chicks to leave the nest; then parents brood the chicks, lead them to feeding/hiding areas, alert them to danger, and vigorously deter predators (see Predation). Some brood-rearing areas are used only briefly, others are occupied by broods for > 2 wk (JK). Usually both parents remain with chicks until they fledge (2).

Brooding

Performed by both parents. One female brooded for almost 70% of first 1.5 h after chicks left the nest, with brooding bouts lasting 1–14 min; chicks were not brooded during subsequent 1.5 h (JK). Ambient temperature during this period increased from 6.3 to 9.8°C (P. Brown, unpublished data).

Feeding

Chicks feed themselves. No data on diet, range of feeding methods, feeding rates, etc.

Nest Sanitation

Not applicable; the young leave the nest soon after hatching.

Carrying of Young

Not known; rarely, the female will pick up chicks under her wings when she abruptly rises after brooding (JK).

Cooperative Breeding

Not reported.

Brood Parasitism by Other Species

Not reported.

Fledgling Stage

Departure from Nest

Broods leave the nest area within a few hours after the last chick is dry, stay longer in nests in inclement weather; typically depart within 6–18 h (2, JK). Before departure, chicks spend time under the parent and wander around the nest area on their own. Most broods leave the nest together; in some, the male leads the older 2 chicks away when they are several hours old. In such cases, the female remains at the nest, but the male will join her if she utters alarm calls; within 24 h, she leads the remaining chicks from the nest (JK).

At departure, the parent walks away from the nest, calling constantly with a soft, quiet wheet, wheet and toe-wit, toe-wit; the chicks follow 2–3 m behind, peeping. During departure, attending females observed to glean insects from low vegetation without slowing down—one jab on each step; also seen to oil feathers and to stretch leg, wing, and neck. Chicks maintain vocal contact with and follow the parent; they approach to be brooded following parental calls and squat in response to alarm calls.

Growth

No information beyond first 17 d. See also Young Birds.

Association with Parents or Other Young

At Churchill, during dry years, multiple broods may congregate loosely around remaining tundra ponds. At Susitna Flats, broods rarely within 100 m of each other (Senner et al., unpublished data). Male and 3 recently-fledged young reported in mixed-species brood aggregation with Bristle-thighed Curlews and Whimbrels (62).

Ability to Get Around, Feed, and Care for Self

Hudsonian Godwit chicks are precocial. The female often abandons the brood first (around 20 d), with the male often staying until the chicks are completely volant (around 30 d).

Immature Stage

No information.

Recommended Citation

Walker, B. M., N. R. Senner, C. S. Elphick, J. Klima, and G. Contreras (2024). Hudsonian Godwit (Limosa haemastica), version 1.1. In Birds of the World (N. D. Sly, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.hudgod.01.1