Hudsonian Godwit - Limosa haemastica

A juvenile Hudsonian Godwit was spotted  in Napa County, California, on Sept. 11, 2013 and was still present on Sept 15. It forages in a farm pond southwest of Napa at the end of Buchli Station Road, in an area known as Huichica Creek WA, and has been seen by scores of enthralled birders.

The Hudsonian Godwit, Limosa haemastica is a species rarely seen by most. It breeds far to the north, at widely scattered tundra sites in Alaska and Canada, especially around Hudson's Bay. The species in a long distance migrant, capable of flying 5,000 miles non-stop from Canada to southern South America, mostly flying over water down the Atlantic coast. Most Hudsonian Godwits seen in the Pacific Northwest and in California have been juveniles, and are likely from groups nesting in southern Alaska. The wintering sites in South America are  along the coast of Argentina, and down to Tierra del Fuego! The next photo shows the godwit plunging its long bill into the mud of the shallow pond, where it then probed like the Dowitchers. You can see the black tail here, along with the nicely fringed back feathers.

The feeding mehtod of the Hudsoniancan be seen in a short video I took (click on the icons for "HD" and "Full Screen", lower right of the link): http://www.flickr.com/photos/lenblumin/9754810473/in/photostream

Next photo gives a good idea of the bird's size (15"), as it forages near the slightly smaller and more slender Greater Yellowlegs, which is about 14".

My favorite photo was taken as the light improved. The soft brown of the water reflects dried foliage from the bank of the pond, creating a perfect backdrop for the soft hues of the juvenile Godwit. Note the well-defined supercilliary mark, which is widest in front of the eye and stops just over the rear of the eye. Bar-tailed Godwit has a longer stripe here.

The long bill is gently upcurved, much like the Marbled Godwit's. The similar-appearing Black-tailed Godwit has a straighter bill with more color at the base. In the Hudsonian the pink color is restricted to the proximal lower mandible. Juveniles have an unmarked breast, are browner that fall adults, and have more brightly marked backs. The last shot show the Hudsonian with the American Avocet and a Greater Yellowlegs.

Taxonomy:

Order: Charadriiformes - Shorebirds, including Gulls and Terns

Family: Scolopacidae - Shorebirds, including Sandpipers, plus Avocets, Oystercatchers, Turnstones and Phalaropes.

Genus: Limosa - The Godwits. Limosa meaning "muddy", apparently a reference to the coastal mudflats where many of these birds forage. There are only 4 Godwit species in the world. Their relationship to other Scolopacidae is uncertain. Some evidence argued for placing them near the curlews, while other signs pointed to a dowitcher link in the past, or even to the turnstones.

• The largest Limosa is the Marbled Godwit at 18", a bird commonly seen from fall to spring on our coastal tidelands, but not seen as widely in most other areas. Total population about 130,000.
• The 16" Bar-tailed Godwit, a Eurasian species numbering over 1 million, has some 120,000 breeders sited in Alaska along the north and west coasts. It is thought that the rare sighting of Hudsonian Godwits in Australia occur because they follow the Alaskan Bar-tailed Godwits on their epic 7,000 mile journey south across the Pacific.
• The 16.5" Black-tailed Godwit is also Eurasian, numbers about 800,000 and is closest in appearance to the Hudsonian Godwit. Underwings are white, and bill is straighter than that on the Hudsonian. Black-tailed is clearly closest to the Hudsonian and they are referred to as allo-species, or classified as conspecifics.

Species: Limosa haemastica - Hudsonian Godwit. Total population is estimated at 50-70,000. No subspecies are currently recognized, as the disjunct populations are all similar in appearance, but genetic analysis show distinct difference among the separate breeding groups. The Hudsonian is best distinguished from the Black-tailed by the black axillaries and underwing, which we saw briefly when it flew to the other pond nearby. Vagrant Hudsonian Godwits have been seen in various Pacific Island groups, in small numbers. Read more about this rare visitor on Cornell's Birds of NorthAmerica Online, #629, Elphick and Klinka.

To see the exact location on a map you can scroll down a bit more and click on "Napa, California".