{"id":21987,"date":"2015-04-15T06:22:29","date_gmt":"2015-04-15T12:22:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=21987"},"modified":"2026-04-14T06:47:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T11:47:17","slug":"a-marbled-godwit-feeding-on-the-shore-of-the-gulf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/04\/15\/a-marbled-godwit-feeding-on-the-shore-of-the-gulf\/","title":{"rendered":"Marbled Godwit Feeding On The Shore Of The Gulf"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MarbledMarbled Godwit feeding on the shore of the Gulf – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/800, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Marbled Godwits are migrating through Utah on their way to their breeding grounds right now so I thought I’d feature this one on my post today. There are four species of Godwits that can be found in North America and the Marbled Godwit is the only species I have photographed so far.<\/p>\n

Marbled Godwits are large shorebirds although they are not as large as Long-billed Curlews and although they are shorebirds they breed in grassy marshes of the Great Plains and a few locations in Alaska.<\/p>\n

I was fortunate that these godwits wintered on the Gulf Coast when I lived in Florida which gave me ample opportunities to photograph them often from low perspectives. They are much more difficult to approach here in Utah.<\/p>\n

This Marbled Godwit either has a tiny Coquina (a mollusk) or a tiny Sand Crab in its bill, I can’t tell for certain what the prey is. They consume insects, crustaceans, mollusks and small fish.<\/p>\n

Marbled Godwits are long-lived shorebirds with the oldest bird having been recorded at 29 years old.<\/p>\n

They are lovely, elegant shorebirds!<\/p>\n

Life is good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Image created June of 2008<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Marbled Godwits are migrating through Utah on their way to their breeding grounds right now so I thought I’d feature this one on my post today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":154492,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,25,704,88],"tags":[4021,2755,4040,4163,4419,3980,3522,3521,3975,274],"class_list":["post-21987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-marbled-godwits","tag-bird-photography","tag-coquina","tag-feeding","tag-limosa-fedoa","tag-marbled-godwit","tag-pinellas-county","tag-sand-crab","tag-sandpiper","tag-shorebird","tag-shorebirds-2"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/marbled-godwit-florida-mia-mcpherson-1189.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-5ID","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":27257,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/08\/08\/marbled-godwits-are-migrating\/","url_meta":{"origin":21987,"position":0},"title":"Marbled Godwits Are Migrating","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The past few times I have gone to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge I have seen Marbled Godwits flying over and I know that their migration to their wintering grounds has begun.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Marbled Godwits feeding, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/marbled-godwits-feeding-mia-mcpherson-6873.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/marbled-godwits-feeding-mia-mcpherson-6873.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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