Marbled godwit

{{Short description|Species of bird}} {{Speciesbox | status = VU | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2024 |title=''Limosa fedoa'' |volume=2024 |article-number=e.T22693162A259771021 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2024-2.RLTS.T22693162A259771021.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref> | image = MarbledGodwit.jpg | taxon = Limosa fedoa | authority = (Linnaeus, 1758) | synonyms = *''Scolopax fedoa'' <small>Linnaeus, 1758</small> | range_map = Limosa_fedoa_map.svg | range_map_caption = Range of ''L. fedoa'' {{leftlegend|#E0584E|Breeding Range|outline=gray}}{{leftlegend|#F07568|Non-breeding Range|outline=gray}} }}

The '''marbled godwit''' ('''''Limosa fedoa''''') is a large migratory shorebird in the family Scolopacidae. On average, it is the largest of the four species of godwit.

==Taxonomy== In 1750 the English naturalist George Edwards included an illustration and a description of the marbled godwit in the third volume of his ''A Natural History of Uncommon Birds''. He used the English name "The Greater American Godwit". Edwards based his hand-coloured etching on a preserved specimen that had been brought to London from the Hudson Bay area of Canada by James Isham.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Edwards | first=George | author-link=George Edwards (naturalist) | year=1750 | title=A Natural History of Uncommon Birds | location=London | publisher=Printed for the author at the College of Physicians | volume=Part III | page=137, Plate 137 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/50196295 }}</ref> When in 1758 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his ''Systema Naturae'' for the tenth edition, he placed the marbled godwit with godwits and ibises in the genus ''Scolopax''. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name ''Scolopax fedoa'' and cited Edwards' work.<ref>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1758 | title=Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | volume=1 | edition=10th | language=Latin | publisher=Laurentii Salvii | location=Holmiae (Stockholm) | page=146 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727053 }}</ref> The marbled godwit is now placed in the genus ''Limosa'' that was introduced in 1760 by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Brisson | first=Mathurin Jacques | author-link=Mathurin Jacques Brisson | year=1760 | title=Ornithologie, ou, Méthode Contenant la Divisio Oiseaux en Ordres, Sections, Genres, Especes & leurs Variétés | language=fr, la | at=[https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36010447 Vol. 1, p. 48], [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36294591 Vol. 5, p. 261] | place=Paris | publisher=Jean-Baptiste Bauche }}</ref><ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | date=July 2021 | title=Sandpipers, snipes, coursers | work=IOC World Bird List Version 11.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/sandpipers/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=14 October 2021 }}</ref> The genus name ''Limosa'' is from Latin and means "muddy", from ''limus'', "mud". The specific epithet ''fedoa'' may be an Old English name for a godwit.<ref>{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A. | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher=Christopher Helm | location = London | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages=[https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n158/mode/1up 158], [https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n227/mode/1up 227] }}</ref> The word was mentioned by the English naturalist William Turner in 1544.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Newton | first=Alfred | author-link=Alfred Newton | year=1893–1896 | chapter=Fedoa | title=A Dictionary of Birds | location=London | publisher=Adam and Charles Black | page=248 | chapter-url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/33017353#page/394/mode/1up }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Turner | first=William | author-link= William Turner (naturalist) | translator=Evans, A.H. | translator-link=Arthur Humble Evans | year=1903 | orig-date=1544 | title=Turner on Birds: a short and succinct history of the principal birds noticed by Pliny and Aristotle first published by Doctor William Turner, 1544 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | location=Cambridge | language=Latin, English | url=https://archive.org/details/turneronbirdssho00turn/page/45/mode/2up | page=45 }}</ref>

Two subspecies are recognised:<ref name=ioc/> *''L. f. beringiae'' Gibson & Kessel, 1989 – breeds in Alaska and winters in the west United States. Averages shorter legs and bill than nominate subspecies. *''L. f. fedoa'' (Linnaeus, 1758) – breeds in central, south-central Canada, and the north-central United States, winters in southern United States to northwest South America. A disjunct breeding population breeds in James Bay.

==Description== The total length is {{convert|40|-|50|cm|in|abbr=on}}, including a large bill of {{convert|8|-|13|cm|in|abbr=on}}, and wingspan is {{convert|70|-|88|cm|in|abbr=on}}.<ref>[http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/rsg/profile.html?action=elementDetail&selectedElement=ABNNF08040] (2011).</ref> Body mass can vary from {{convert|240|to|520|g|oz|abbr=on}}. The average weight of 40 males was {{convert|326|g|oz|abbr=on}} and that of 45 females was {{convert|391|g|oz|abbr=on}}. Bill length is from {{convert|73.9|to|131|mm|in|abbr=on}}. Among all the members of the sandpiper family, only the curlews attain sizes that significantly exceed this species.<ref name = "CRC">''CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses'' by John B. Dunning Jr. (Editor). CRC Press (1992), {{ISBN|978-0-8493-4258-5}}.</ref><ref>Gratto-Trevor, C. L. (2020). ''Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa)'', version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA.</ref>

Adults have long blue-grey legs and a very long pink bill with a slight upward curve and dark at the tip. The long neck, breast and belly are pale brown with dark bars on the breast and flanks. The back is mottled and dark. They show cinnamon wing linings in flight.

==Distribution and habitat== Marbled godwits breed in three distinct areas with their own unique route. The vast majority occur in mid-continental North America, followed by eastern Canada and the Alaska Peninsula, USA. In addition, the largest winter ranges are the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts of the US and Mexico.<ref name="Marbled Godwit migration characteri">{{cite journal |last1=Olson |first1=Bridget E. |last2=Sullivan |first2=Kimberley A. |last3=Farmer |first3=Adrian H. |title=Marbled Godwit migration characterized with satellite telemetry |journal=The Condor |date=May 2014 |volume=116 |issue=2 |pages=185–194 |jstor=90008440 |doi=10.1650/CONDOR-13-024.1 |s2cid=86113359 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Godwits breeding in the western USA and Canada follow a route through the Utah stopover site, with a final arrival in the winter sites of Mexico and the Caribbean. Species breeding in eastern Canada migrate across the US, and stopover at sites along the Gulf of California and Mexico. Furthermore, those breeding in North and South Dakota winter in coastal Georgia.<ref name="Marbled Godwit migration characteri"/> The Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge located at Great Salt Lake in Utah (USA), is one of the most popular stopover sites for godwits in the spring and fall. Satellite tracking data from pairs breeding in Alberta revealed that male and female godwits appear to migrate and winter separately, with females from that population migrating down to the California coast and males stopping over at Great Salt Lake before wintering down in Baja California Sur.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=McKellar |first=Ann E. |last2=Gratto-Trevor |first2=Cheri L. |last3=Tibbitts |first3=T. Lee |date=2025-01-29 |title=Sex differences in migration routes and non-breeding areas of a declining shorebird |url=https://ace-eco.org/vol20/iss1/art2/ |journal=Avian Conservation and Ecology |language=en |volume=20 |issue=1 |doi=10.5751/ACE-02785-200102 |issn=1712-6568|doi-access=free }}</ref>

==Behavior and ecology== ===Breeding=== They nest on the ground, usually in short grass.

===Food and feeding=== These birds forage by probing on mudflats, in marshes, or at the beach (see picture below). When the tide is out, they eat. In short grass, they may pick up insects by sight. They mainly eat insects and crustaceans, but also eat parts of aquatic plants.

When the tide is in, they roost. They often sleep by standing on one leg and tucking their bill into their body (see picture below).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lentz|first1=Joan Easton|title=Introduction to Birds of the Southern California Coast|date=November 2005|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-24321-7|page=151|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=htdlCACZtoAC&q=marbled+godwit+sleeping&pg=PA151|access-date=27 December 2017}}</ref>

==Conservation== Their numbers were reduced by hunting at the end of the 19th century. Although they have recovered somewhat since that time, their population has declined in recent times{{When|date=July 2025}} as suitable habitat is used for farming.

==Gallery== <gallery widths=200 heights=200> File:Marbled Godwit Northern California.jpg|Feeding on mudflat at low tide, Elkhorn Slough File:MarbledGodwitsFeeding.jpg|Marbled godwits feeding, Point Reyes National Seashore, California File:Marbled godwit Sandiego.jpg|Marbled godwit landing San Diego CA File:Sea foam at Ocean Beach in San Francisco -1 on 3-25-11.jpg|Marbled godwit flying near sea foam at Ocean Beach, San Francisco File:Limosa fedoa flight.jpg|In flight File:7Z1E8737.jpg|Flock File:Marbled godwits napping on the beach.jpg|Sleeping at Balboa Peninsula, Newport Beach, California. File:Limosa fedoa (Marbled Godwit) 1APR2017.jpg|Bodega Bay, California </gallery>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Limosa fedoa|Marbled Godwit}} {{Wikispecies|Limosa fedoa}} * [https://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Marbled_Godwit.html Marbled Godwit Species Accounty]—Cornell Lab of Ornithology * [https://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i2490id.html Marbled Godwit - ''Limosa fedoa'']—USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter * {{InternetBirdCollection|marbled-godwit-limosa-fedoa|Marbled Godwit}} * {{VIREO|marbled+godwit|Marbled Godwit}}

{{Scolopacidae|1}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q844714}}

Category:Birds described in 1758 Category:Birds of the Caribbean Category:Birds of the Dominican Republic Category:Limosa Category:Native birds of the Canadian Prairies Category:Native birds of the Plains-Midwest (United States) Category:Shorebirds Category:Animal taxa named by Carl Linnaeus