Hudsonian Godwit

(Limosa haemastica) (HUGO)

Photographic Identification Guide

Hudsonian Godwit (Limosa haemastica) (HUGO), a large, long-billed sandpiper, is one of the long-distance migratory shorebirds that nest in arctic and subarctic areas of Canada and Alaska and winter in South America, primarily in Tierra del Fuego (southern Chile and Argentina). During fall migration, many individuals routinely fly 5,000 miles (8,000 km) from central or west-central Canada directly over the Atlantic Ocean to South America. Some Hudsonian Godwits, usually from the population nesting in Alaska, join Bar-tailed Godwits in flying 7,000 miles (11,300 km) directly over the Pacific Ocean to New Zealand or 8,000 miles (12,900 km) to Australia.

In this guide, we cover the features, in order of importance, to look for on these birds. When discussing plumages, we use the terms winter, spring, and summer to refer to northern hemisphere seasons. Because some of these birds spend parts of the year in the northern and southern hemispheres, the correct technical terms for the plumage stages—basic and alternate—help avoid the confusion of seasonal terminology.

visual gallery

species account

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Fig. 7. Hudsonian Godwits. Summer (alternate) adults mid-molt to winter (basic) plumage. Note molting, patchy rufous and black belly feathers. Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge, Chatham, MA. 18 August 2015.
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Fig. 20. Comparison of Hudsonian Godwit and Greater Yellowlegs juveniles. Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, Newburyport, MA. 6 October 2021.
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Fig. 19. Comparison of Hudsonian Godwit with Lesser Yellowlegs. Bear Creek Wildlife Sanctuary, Saugus, MA. 7 October 2018.
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Fig. 18. Hudsonian Godwits, Eastern Willet and Short-billed Dowitchers. Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge, Chatham, MA. 11 August 2023.
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Fig. 17. Comparison of Hudsonian Godwit and Willet in flight. Note differences in wings and tail pattern. HUGO in South Beach, Chatham, MA. 16 July 2020. WILL in San Mateo, CA. 29 October 2019.
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Fig. 16. Comparison of Hudsonian Godwits and Willet. Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge, Chatham, MA. 15 August 2018.
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Fig. 15. Comparison of Hudsonian Godwit and Bar-tailed Godwit in flight. Note differences in upperwing, underwing and tail coloration. New South Wales, Australia. 21 March 2021.
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Fig. 14. Comparison of Hudsonian Godwit and Marbled Godwits. Pacifica, WA. 22 September 2023.
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Fig. 13. Comparison of Hudsonian Godwit in molting summer (alternate) plumage with juvenile Marbled Godwit. Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge, Chatham, MA. 2 September 2017.
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Fig. 11. Comparison of Hudsonian Godwit with Black-tailed Godwit in flight. Note difference in underwing coloration. HUGO in Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, Newburyport, MA. 3 October 2021; BKGO in Lincolnshire, UK. 21 August 2017.
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Fig. 12. Comparison of Hudsonian Godwit and Black-tailed Godwit, both in alternate plumage. HUGO in Lancaster, PA. 21 July 2023. BKGO in Iceland. 17 May 2018.
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Fig. 10. Hudsonian Godwit juveniles in flight with Dunlins. Winter (basic) plumage. Note bold white wing stripes and bicolored bills. Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, Newburyport, MA. 9 October 2020.
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Fig. 9. Hudsonian Godwit. Juvenile molting to basic plumage. Breed's Pond, Lynn, MA. 20 September 2015.
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Fig. 8. Hudsonian Godwit. Juvenile. Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, Newburyport, MA. 3 October 2021.
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Fig. 6. Hudsonian Godwit. Summer (alternate) adult mid-molt to winter (basic) plumage. Note molting, patchy rufous and black belly feathers. Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge, Chatham, MA. 9 August 2020.
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Fig. 5. Hudsonian Godwit in flight. Male in summer (alternate) plumage. Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge, Chatham, MA. 27 July 2020.
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Fig. 4. Hudsonian Godwit. Spring male in (alternate) plumage. White's Ranch Road, Anahuac, TX. 26 April 2022.
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Fig. 3. Hudsonian Godwits in spring (alternate) plumage. Note size difference. In female, rufous and black belly barring alternates with buffy and pale bars. Calgary, Alberta, Canada. 29 April 2021.
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Fig. 2. Hudsonian Godwit. Winter (basic) molting to spring (alternate) plumage. Note early molt date, typical for this species. Valparaiso, Chile. 25 January 2024.
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Fig. 1. Hudsonian Godwit. Winter (basic) plumage. Los Lagos, Chile. 18 December 2017.

The photos in this species account are arranged in this order:

Basic: drab gray-tan winter plumage, roughly November to February.

Hudsonian Godwit begins the gradual molt to winter (basic) plumage in September and usually completes it by the end of the calendar year; see Fig. 1.

Alternate: first spring and summer after hatch year or adult breeding plumage, mid-February to October.

Beginning in mid-February, sometimes even earlier, winter (basic) feathers on second-year HUGO are gradually replaced by spring (alternate) feathers; see Fig. 2, Fig. 3. By midsummer, alternate feathers begin to show wear and are gradually replaced by winter (basic) plumage; see Fig. 6.

Juvenile: young birds, recently hatched, July to November.

The distinctive juvenile feathers are acquired on the breeding grounds immediately after the natal down is shed and before the young begin their southbound migration; see Fig. 8. In fall, juvenile feathers begin to be replaced by winter (basic) plumage; see Fig. 9.

Size and weight

Body length:

14.5–16.7 in. (37–42 cm)

Wingspan:

26.75–31.5 in. (67–79 cm)

Bill length:

2.7–3.7 in. (68–94 mm)

Weight on breeding and wintering grounds:

7.4–10.4 oz. (210–296 g)

Weight at Fall staging area in Saskatchewan:

7.4–15.4 oz. (209–436 g)

Calls

The alarm call, often given as the bird flies up, is a sharp whit or to-whit.

Calls in Beluga, AK, 2014:

Calls in Maldonado, Argentina, 2005:

Plumage and other characteristics

With its long legs, neck and bill, HUGO is one of our largest shorebirds. The bill is tapered, pointed, slightly upturned and usually two-toned with brownish orange or pink at the base and a dark tip; see Fig. 1.

In all plumages, in flight HUGO’s tail is two-toned with black at the tip and white at the base. The underwing linings are nearly black; see Fig. 5, Fig. 10, Fig. 11.

Winter (basic) plumage is evenly gray-tan above, pale below. Back (mantle) feathers have sharp, dark central shafts. The breast and neck are also gray; see Fig. 1.

Second-year birds in southern South America often begin to acquire spring (alternate) plumage by mid-February, sometimes earlier. Dark-centered alternate feathers replace gray back (mantle) feathers. Rufous, black and pale feathers begin to grow on the belly and underparts; see Fig. 2.

For first year birds, the first molt to spring (alternate) plumage may be delayed until April or later. Some of these birds may not leave the winter grounds until their second year, or they may travel north and return in the fall while retaining basic plumage.

In breeding (usually second year) birds, full spring (alternate) plumage is often attained by April. Males are dark in this season due to back (mantle) plumage that is checkered black and white with pale narrow margins, and a deeply rufous belly and breast with heavy brown or black barring; see Fig. 4, Fig. 5.

Females in full spring (alternate) plumage are usually paler than males. Rufous and black bars on the belly alternate with buffy and pale bars; see Fig. 3. (Body and bill size differences shown in this image are likely close to the extreme limits of differences in dimensions based on sex.)

Spring (alternate) and summer (alternate) are the same plumage; however, as seasons advance, feather margins become worn, and the plumage looks different.

By late July or early August, the molt to winter (basic) feathers produces a mix of dark summer (alternate) feathers and pale gray basic feathers on the back (mantle). Rufous and black belly feathers mix with fresh pale plumage; see Fig. 6, Fig. 7.

In juvenile plumage, the entire bird is suffused in pale tones of gray buff. Back (mantle) feathers have distinctive anchor-shaped dark centers; see Fig. 8.

As fall advances, evenly gray winter (basic) plumage replaces the distinctively marked juvenile mantle feathers; see Fig. 9.

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Breeding range, migration, wintering range, habitat

The distribution of Hudsonian Godwit breeding areas in arctic and subarctic Canada and Alaska is extremely patchy. Nesting habitats are often in the transition zone between boreal woodlands and open bogs and wetlands.

On the nesting grounds, HUGO forages for insect adults and larvae as well as small snails. During fall migration season, the HUGO diet expands to include plant tubers. This carbohydrate-rich diet apparently is helpful in preparation for the long migratory flight.

After the breeding season, the majority of the population—adults and young—stages at central Canadian lakes and wetlands and along the shores of southeastern Hudson Bay and James Bay and appears to migrate directly to the coast of Brazil over the Atlantic Ocean, with a small number landing along the Canadian Maritimes or the shores of the eastern United States.

Other birds migrate south over the prairie states and feed in rice fields of southwest Louisiana and coastal Texas before heading to South America.

In South America, the populations from western breeding areas in Canada and Alaska end their journeys in southern Chile. Eastern birds— the Hudson Bay area breeders—winter on the eastern side of the Andes in Argentina.

Winter habitats are tidal mudflats and wetlands, where the Hudsonian Godwit diet includes tubers as well as insect larvae, worms, fiddler crabs and other crustaceans.

In spring, migrants from South America feed in Gulf Coast rice fields in Texas and Louisiana, then move north and stop at various prairie pothole sites in central North America, such as Cheyenne Bottoms, Kansas, before ending up at boreal breeding sites.

Similar species

HUGO compared to BKGO

Hudsonian Godwit (HUGO) and Black-tailed Godwit (BKGO) are sister species. There are at least four described subspecies of BKGO with different dimensions and coloration. Many BKGO characteristics overlap those of HUGO; particularly in winter (basic) plumage, they may be difficult to separate.

The most reliable diagnostic feature to separate the two species is the difference in underwing color; see Fig. 11. In all plumages, the undersides of HUGO’s wings are dark; they are white on BKGO. Both species have a black and white tail.

Note the following:

HUGO’s white wing bar is narrower than BKGO’s.
In breeding (alternate) plumage, HUGO’s head and neck are gray; its breast and belly all the way to the undertail are heavily barred with rufous and black. In most subspecies of BKGO, the head and neck are a rich rufous in males and cinnamon in females; see Fig. 12.
Most subspecies of BKGO are larger and taller than HUGO. The bill looks much sturdier and straighter than the tapered and slightly upturned HUGO bill.

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HUGO compared to MAGO

Hudsonian Godwit (HUGO) is usually smaller and shorter-billed than Marbled Godwit (MAGO). For comparison, see Fig. 13, Fig. 14.

Note the following:

In flight in all plumages, HUGO has a black and white tail and dark, nearly black, underwings. MAGO is cinnamon-colored overall and has darker, brownish outer wings.
The number of Hudsonian Godwits seen in southern New England has plummeted in the past 40 years. Marbled Godwits, though never common, are seen with regular frequency during fall migration in many Massachusetts and other New England coastal localities.

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HUGO compared to BTGO

Hudsonian Godwit (HUGO) and Bar-tailed Godwit (BTGO) are superficially similar when on the ground, but in flight, the barred tail of BTGO immediately sets it apart from the black and white tail of HUGO; see Fig. 15.

Note the following:

In flight from above, HUGO displays narrow whitish wing stripes. Wing stripes in BTGO are miniscule or nonexistent.
In flight from below, HUGO has dark, nearly black underwings. BTGO’s underwings are barred gray or pale.
BTGO has shorter legs in comparison to HUGO.
In breeding (alternate) plumage, HUGO’s breast and belly are chestnut or rufous with heavy black barring in males or black and tawny barring in females. The chestnut breast and belly of BTGO are unbarred and uniform.

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HUGO compared to WILL

Hudsonian Godwit (HUGO) is generally larger than Willet (WILL). However, Western Willet, being larger than the eastern variety, is comparable in size to HUGO, but the birds are easily separated due to the shape of the bill: long, tapered and slightly upturned in HUGO, moderately long, thick, tubular and straight in WILL; see Fig. 16, Fig. 18.

Note the following:

WILL in flight has boldly marked wings. Like HUGO, the underwing linings (front of the wing from the body out to about 2/3 of the wing) are very dark, nearly black. WILL, however, has a bright white wing stripe and the wing tips are blackish, both above and below; see Fig. 17.

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HUGO compared to LEYE

Hudsonian Godwit (HUGO) and Lesser Yellowlegs (LEYE) are both long-legged shorebirds, but there is a substantial size difference; HUGO is approximately twice as large as LEYE; see Fig. 19.

Note the following:

HUGO’s bill is bicolored and at least twice as long as LEYE’s bill.
In winter (basic) or juvenile plumages, LEYE is a grayish bird; HUGO is tan or brownish gray.
In spring or summer (alternate) plumage, HUGO is heavily speckled dark and light on the back (mantle) and rich rufous, black and white on the breast and belly. LEYE’s alternate back (mantle) plumage is heavily checkered black and white, and its flanks are barred with strong black and white marks that spread to the underbelly.
HUGO’s leg color is dark gray or blackish. LEYE’s leg color is bright yellow.

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HUGO compared to GRYE

Hudsonian Godwit (HUGO) and Greater Yellowlegs (GRYE) are both long-legged shorebirds, but HUGO is approximately 50% larger than GRYE; see Fig. 20.

Note the following:

HUGO’s bill is distinctly bicolored, with pale brown or pink at the base of the bill. GRYE’s bill may show a paler gray at the base.
The upturned bill in HUGO is conspicuous; on the GRYE bill, the upturn is less perceptible.
In winter (basic) or juvenile plumages, GRYE is a grayish bird; HUGO is tan or brownish gray.
In spring or summer (alternate) plumage, HUGO is speckled dark and light on the back (mantle) and rich rufous, black and white on the breast and belly. GRYE’s alternate back (mantle) plumage is heavily checkered black and white, and its flanks are barred with strong black and white marks that spread to the underbelly.
HUGO’s leg color is dark grey or blackish. GRYE’s leg color is bright yellow.

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