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closeYou’re likely to see the speckled brown cutie that is the marbled godwit as it migrates from its breeding grounds in the middle of North America to its wintering grounds along coastal shorelines.
But you’ll have to look sharp. These large shorebirds with long bills that are a smidge upturned are rare visitors in Whatcom County, where they’ve been spotted wading offshore in the fall in Blaine. They’ve also been spied in Birch Bay.
Seeing them in the future could get even harder. Last week, marbled godwits — along with 48 other bird species in Washington state — were placed on the Audubon- American Bird Conservancy Watch List because their populations are being threatened by global warming, invasive species and loss of habitat.
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MARBLED GODWIT FACTS
Scientific name: Limosa fedoa
Where found: Shallow pools, beaches and mudflats when not nesting, which occurs in their breeding grounds in the middle of North America.
Places to look: Birch Bay State Park
Most of these birds winter at the coast in California or Mexico. They travel through Washington state from late August through mid-September. The adults go first, traveling in flocks. The juveniles come next, about a few weeks after the adults set out.
Their legs are long and blackish. They’re about 18 inches long with a wingspan of 30 inches. You’ll know them in flight by the cinnamon color of their underwings. As for those long bills, they’re sensitive and used by marbled godwits to probe for food hidden under the mud, such as crustaceans and mollusks.
Their winter diet of aquatic critters is different from their migration diet, which consists of tubers. Meanwhile, their summer diet includes seeds and insects.
Marbled godwits often are found flocking with whimbrels and long-billed curlews.
That was certainly the case some years ago when a trio wintered in Canada.
“A few years ago, ‘the Three Amigos’ got a lot of attention through the winter for at least two years in a row,” recalls Joe Meche, president of North Cascades Audubon Society. “They were a marbled godwit, a whimbrel and a long-billed curlew. They hung out together, mainly at Blackie’s Spit on Boundary Bay.”
Sources: Barry Ulman; “The Sibley Guide to Birds,” by David Allen Sibley; Seattle Audubon Society at birdweb.org; Cornell Lab of Ornithology at www.birds.cornell.edu; “Birds of Whatcom County: Status and Distribution” Reach Kie Relyea at 715-2234 or kie.relyea@bellinghamherald.com.
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