Species: Limosa haemastica
Hudsonian Godwit
Species
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Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Aves
Order
Charadriiformes
Family
Scolopacidae
Genus
Limosa
NatureServe
Classification
Other Global Common Names
Maçarico-de-Bico-Virado - Picopando Ornamentado, Becacina de Mar - barge hudsonienne
Informal Taxonomy
Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Shorebirds
Formal Taxonomy
Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Charadriiformes - Scolopacidae - Limosa
Ecology and Life History
Migration
false - false - true - Northward migration mainly through Texas and Louisiana and interior North America; usually reaches Texas in April; arrives in Beaufort Sea area late May-early June. Gathers in large flocks on western shores of Hudson and James bays prior to southward migration (to Maritime Provinces and New England, then southward by sea to southern South America, possibly with a stop somewhere in northern South America). Nonbreeders at Tierra del Fuego apparently derive from breeding grounds in central Canadian Arctic (Morrison and Ross 1989). Begins migration from northwestern Canada early to mid-August.
Non-migrant
false
Locally Migrant
false
Food Comments
Feeds on marine worms, mollusks, and crustaceans. Probes deeply into mud. During the nesting season eats many insects (e.g., flies, mosquitoes).
Reproduction Comments
Breeding begins mid-May in west to early June in east (Harrison 1978). Usually 4 eggs are incubated for 22-23 days; eggs incubated by female during day, by male at night. Young precocial, tended by both parents until just before fledging (early August on Mackenzie Delta).
Ecology Comments
NON-BREEDING: gregarious.
Length
39
Weight
305
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G4
Global Status Last Reviewed
1996-11-25
Global Status Last Changed
1996-11-25
Other Status
LC - Least concern
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
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Global Range
H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - BREEDING: locally in south-coastal Alaska, probably western Alaska, Mackenzie, northwestern British Columbia, around Hudson Bay. NON-BREEDING: in South America on the coast of Chile and from Paraguay, southern Brazil, and Uruguay south to Tierra del Fuego and Falkland Islands (AOU 1983). The most important areas are in Tierra del Fuego: Bahia San Sebastian, Argentina, on Atlantic coast of Tierra del Fuego; Bahia Lomas, at eastern mouth of Strait of Magellan; and Chiloe area of Pacific coast of Chile (Morrison and Ross 1989). MIGRATION: in spring, in North America from Texas and Louisiana north to Alberta, Saskatchewan, and the west side of Hudson Bay; rarely on Pacific Coast of Guatemala and Costa Rica. In fall, southeastward from James Bay to Maritimes and New England, then over water to wintering grounds (AOU 1983).
Global Range Code
H
Global Range Description
>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)