Hudsonian Godwit

Open encyclopedia reference

The Hudsonian godwit (Limosa haemastica) is a large shorebird in the sandpiper family, Scolopacidae. It is an extreme long-distance migrant, breeding at remote sites in Subarctic North America and flying nonstop in the fall to wintering sites in southern South America. Due to its remote breeding and wintering grounds and rapid, direct migration, it was a poorly-known species and was considered very rare until the mid-20th century, when major staging sites were discovered around James Bay and breeding sites were found around Churchill, Manitoba. Since then, the Hudsonian godwit has become the target of conservation attention due to its fragmented and localized distribution and small population, as well as an important scientific system for migration biology research.

Wikipedia contributors, Hudsonian godwit; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:26:13.090075+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Limosa haemastica (Linnaeus, 1758)

Name authority

(Linnaeus, 1758)

Common name

Hudsonian Godwit

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Charadriiformes

Family

Scolopacidae

Genus

Limosa

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classAves
9. orderCharadriiformes
10. familyScolopacidae Rafinesque, 1815
11. genusLimosa Brisson, 1760
12. speciesLimosa haemastica (Linnaeus, 1758)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Limosa. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 81 records assigned to Scolopacidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=176690 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:6QFCR. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.