Hudsonian godwit Limosa haemastica

Identification Tips:

• Large shorebird
• Long upturned bill, pink at base and dark at tip
• Black wing linings contrasting with white bases to flight feathers
• White wing stripe
• White rump and dark tail
• Dark legs

Adult alternate

• Gray, streaked head with white supercilium and dark eyeline
• Chestnut underparts with dense black and gray barring
• Black upperparts with small white spots

Adult basic

• Gray upperparts and breast
• White underparts

Juvenile

• Similar to adult basic
• Wing coverts have small black tips
• Brownish wash to gray upperparts

Similar species:

Dowitchers also have long bills and feed in a similar manner but are smaller with uniform, not pink and dark, bills. The Marbled Godwit is larger with buffy underparts. In flight, the Marbled Godwit has plain wings and a dark rump. The rare Black-tailed and Bar-tailed Godwits are similar. They are easiest to tell apart in flight. The black wing linings of the Hudsonian Godwit are diagnostic. The Black-tailed has a wider wing stripe while the Bar-tailed Godwit has a white rump patch extending up the back.