Marbled Godwit

• • •

Marbled Godwits frequent beaches, tidal flats and other shallow pools of water, often in small groups, walking deliberately and poking the shallows, sand and mud with their long bills.

The bird is distinguished from the Willet and other shorebirds by its long, slightly upturned bill that begins orange and tapers to black. While their coloring is similar, they are smaller than the Long-billed Curlew and have darker legs.

Marbled Godwits breed in the grasslands and wetlands of the northern prairies and visit the Houston area in the winter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 26, 2012

From a distance on Bolivar Peninsula they looked like a group of Willet scurrying about the shallows, but as I got closer I saw that about half of them had the long, two-toned bills of the Marbled Godwit. Walking back and fork, they sifted through the seaweed washed up on the shore and slipped their bills into the water where the waves became just a trickle, looking like they were taking a drink with a long straw. They’re largely winter visitors to the Houston area, so these must be a few stragglers.