The Marbled Godwit probes mud and sand with its long upturned bill to find small aquatic animals. Its plumage changes between breeding and nonbreeding seasons.
Its long, slightly upturned bill has a black tip and a base that is orange in breeding plumage and pink in nonbreeding plumage. Breeding birds are barred above and below in brown, white and cinnamon.
Researchers followed breeding Marbled Godwits and Willets in managed wetlands of Canada’s Prairie Pothole Region for seven years, from 1995 to 2001. The estimated annual apparent survival rate for Marbled Godwits was 0.953 ± 0.012, among the highest values reported for large shorebirds in the study.
The birds also showed strong fidelity to breeding sites. Returning pairs that reunited and males that changed mates usually nested within 300 metres of their previous nest. Females that changed mates tended to move farther, often more than 1.1–1.5 km. Among Marbled Godwits, 85% of returning pairs reunited with the same mate, compared with 28% of Willet pairs.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
The authors note that human-caused deaths can add to total mortality in large shorebirds with low natural mortality. They identify collisions at breeding sites and hunting in nonbreeding areas as losses to reduce.