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Hudsonian Godwits are medium-sized waders. When seen in Australia, Hudsonian Godwits are usually in eclipse plumage, which is highly cryptic. Except for short, broad light-grey eyebrows and a small throat patch, the rest of the head, neck and chest is plain grey with a brownish tinge. The belly, vent and undertail coverts are light-grey to off-white. The back and wings are dark brownish-grey, with somewhat lighter brownish-grey edge lining. The uppertail is black. In flight they show mostly grey underwings with a prominent black inner frontal part and a white central wing bar. On the upperwing they have thin, but clearly visible, white wing bars. During the breeding season, both sexes have bold dark-grey chevrons on flanks, mantle and upperwing. In addition, the chest and belly of males have a rufous base, while those of females have a creamy base colour. The eyes have dark irises. Hudsonian Godwits have a long, dark grey-tipped pinkish, straight bill that is about twice as long as the size of the head. The long legs and the feet are dark-grey.

Twitcher's tip

For identification, primarily in non-breeding plumage, it is useful to know that, compared with Bar-tailed Godwits, Hudsonian Godwits have shorter supercilia that do not extend much beyond the eyes. Compared with Black-tailed Godwits, the supercilia of the Hudsonian Godwit are much broader, bulging above and in front of the eyes. In breeding plumage, compared with both Bar-tailed Godwits and Black-tailed Godwits, Hudsonian Godwits have by far the most prominent chevron pattern.

The correct identification of waders ("shorebirds"), e.g. of the Calidris, Tringa, Actitis and related families or of the Charadrius, Pluvialis and related genera in the field can be quite tricky. We have therefore made an attempt to give some advice HERE.

The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org .

The global distribution of the Hudsonian Godwit is available HERE .

Hudsonian Godwits breed near the treeline of northern North America, in a range spanning along, or near, the North-west coast from Alaska to northern Canada, including parts of Hudson Bay, from which their name is derived. There is also one known breeding site in inland central northern Canada. In winter they migrate down the American coastlines, to overwinter in South America. On the East coast they stay from southern Brazil southwards to Terra del Fuego, while along the West coast they stay from about Puerto Montt and Chiloe, Chile, southwards.

Hudsonian Godwits are rare vagrants to Australasia, when individuals move down the western Pacific coastline (along far-eastern Asia), rather than the eastern Pacific coastline (the American West coast). Most sightings in Australasia are reported from around New Zealand and along the southern half of the Australian coastline.

In Australia Hudsonian Godwits are found only rarely, and only in coastal environments, from around Brisbane, QLD, via the NSW coast, to TAS and VIC. There are additional reports from Adelaide, SA, and Perth, WA.

While overwintering in Australia, Hudsonian Godwits have a preference for sandbanks and also intertidal wetlands, including mudflats.

M. Eaton reports finding a Hudsonian Godwit at Brighton, a northern suburb of Brisbane, QLD, in June 2024. All sighting and photographic information presented on this page has been kindly contributed by M. Eaton.