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Guide to North American Birds

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Photo: Andreas Trepte/Wikimedia Creative Commons

Black-tailed Godwit

Limosa limosa

The rarest of the four godwits in our area, the Black-tail nests in Eurasia and is only a stray to North America. In Alaska it may be a rare but regular migrant in spring in the Aleutian Islands. On our Atlantic Coast it is only casual or accidental, but strays have been found in several states and provinces, from Newfoundland to Florida.
Family Sandpipers
The rarest of the four godwits in our area, the Black-tail nests in Eurasia and is only a stray to North America. In Alaska it may be a rare but regular migrant in spring in the Aleutian Islands. On our Atlantic Coast it is only casual or accidental, but strays have been found in several states and provinces, from Newfoundland to Florida.
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Illustration © David Allen Sibley.
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Text © Kenn Kaufman, adapted from
Lives of North American Birds

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Songs and Calls
A loud quee-quee-quee; often silent.
Audio © Lang Elliott, Bob McGuire, Kevin Colver, Martyn Stewart and others.
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