SPECIES

Hudsonian Godwit Limosa haemastica Scientific name definitions

Brad M. Walker, Nathan R. Senner, Chris S. Elphick, and Joanna Klima
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated October 21, 2011

Figures from this Account

Distribution of the Hudsonian Godwit
Figure 4. Hudsonian Godwit - Annual cycle.

Annual cycle of migration, breeding, and molt of Hudsonian Godwits. Thick lines show peak activity; thin lines, off-peak. Note that details of annual cycle, especially molt timing, not well known.

Fig. 1. Breeding distribution and major North American staging sites of the Hudsonian Godwit.

Marked breeding range encompasses sites at which breeding has been confirmed or is considered very probable based on the presence of displaying birds during summer. Presumably many breeding areas remain unknown. This species winters in South America. See Distribution for details.

Figure 2. Hudsonian Godwit vocalizations.

A. Sequence of toe-wit notes forming breeding song. B–E: Several variants of the whit call, showing variation in the notes made and the spacing between notes; F: Terminal notes of landing call. Recordings A–F obtained at Churchill, MB, on 13–14 Jun 1979 by William Gunn; sonograms prepared by Cornell Library of Natural Sounds (catalogue nos. 60806-60808).

Figure 3. Hudsonian Godwits regularly perch on the tops of conifer trees during the breeding season.

Illustration by David Parmelee.

Figure 5. Growth of Hudsonian Godwit chicks.

Growth of Hudsonian Godwit chicks reared in captivity (K. Krijgsveld unpubl.). Note: Captive-reared chicks often grow faster than in nature. Error bars show SD. Numbers above bars give sample size.

Recommended Citation

Walker, B. M., N. R. Senner, C. S. Elphick, and J. Klima (2020). Hudsonian Godwit (Limosa haemastica), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.hudgod.01