Godwits

Birds of North America

Haematopodidae

Lives, Habitats & Pictures of the Godwits

There are four types of godwits seen in North America. Three of these species are native to the continent. They are the Bar-tailed Godwit, found on the west and north-western shores of Alaska, the Hudsonian Godwit can be found in different northern regions of North America, one of the easier places to see this bird is around Churchill, Manitoba, where it nest. The Marbled-Godwit, whose summer habitat in in the central regions of Canada and in the USA, has been found throughout the lower half of the continent during its migrations. The Black-tailed Godwit is a vagrant from across the Atlantic Ocean and is occaisonally seen on the eastern coast of North America.

Godwits are the larger members of the shorebird family. These spectaclar looking birds can be identified by their long and colourful upturned bills. Often seen in shallow water or marshes, where they probed into the mud and soft earth in search of food.