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Marbled Godwit | Limosa fedoa
Marmergrutto | Picopando canelo
Marbled Godwit is the largest godwit of the Americas, a cinnamon-brown wader with a long, slightly upturned bill. It winters in large numbers along the coasts of north-western Mexico, especially in the lagoons of Baja California, and in smaller numbers along the coasts further south to Panama. On mudflats it often feeds in flocks, its bill pushed deep into the mud.
Voice
A loud, nasal ka-wek or ker-wek, often repeated, and a laughing ka-ka-ka when alarmed.
Recording: Nancy Salem — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · converted to mono · xeno-canto
Identification
40–50 cm, of which 8–13 cm is bill. The bill is long, straight or slightly upturned, pink at the base and dark at the tip. The plumage is warm cinnamon-brown; the upperparts are spotted and barred dark, giving a marbled pattern. In non-breeding plumage the underparts are almost unmarked pale cinnamon, in breeding plumage finely barred dark. The legs are dark. In flight the cinnamon primaries and cinnamon underwing stand out; there is no white wing bar and no white rump. The sexes are alike; females are larger and longer-billed.
Confusion species
Hudsonian Godwit Limosa haemastica is smaller and grey in non-breeding plumage, with a white wing bar, black underwing and a white rump with a black tail. Long-billed Curlew Numenius americanus is the same colour but has a strongly decurved bill. Hudsonian Whimbrel Numenius hudsonicus is greyer and has a curved bill and crown stripes. Willet Tringa semipalmata is grey, with a shorter, straight bill and a black-and-white wing.
Habitat
Mudflats and mudbanks, estuaries, shallow saline lagoons, salt pans and sandy beaches with muddy patches, sometimes salt marsh and coastal pasture. Feeds by wading through shallow water, probing deep into the mud with its long bill for worms, shellfish and crustaceans.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of Mexico and Central America.
Range and movements
Numerous along the Pacific coast of Mexico, especially in Baja California and the Gulf of California, and further south along the coast in decreasing numbers to Panama, where the Bay of Panama is a regular wintering site. Less numerous along the Gulf coast of Mexico and scarce on the Caribbean coast of Central America. Outside the guide area the species breeds on the northern prairies of the United States and Canada, with small populations at James Bay and in Alaska.
- Winter visitor (c. Oct–Mar)
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
The lagoons of Baja California, such as those near Guerrero Negro, and the mudflats of the Gulf of California hold large flocks in winter. Elsewhere in Central America a lone Marbled Godwit often joins Willets or whimbrels and is then recognised by its long, upturned bill with a pink base.
Conservation status
Vulnerable. The population is declining through the loss of prairie and wetlands on the breeding grounds, and in winter the species depends on a small number of large mudflat areas, of which the lagoons of Baja California are the most important. Disturbance and coastal development are threats there.
Scientific name
Limosa fedoa | (Linnaeus, 1758)
Linnaeus described the species in 1758 as Scolopax Fedoa; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Limosa was introduced in 1760 by Brisson. Limosa is Latin for 'muddy', from limus 'mud'. fedoa may be an Old English name for a godwit, mentioned by William Turner in 1544; its origin is otherwise unknown. The specimen the first description was based on came from Hudson Bay, Canada.