Editing Godwit (section)

{{Short description|Genus of birds}}
{{For|the New Zealand publishing company|Godwit Press}}
{{redirect|Limosa}}
{{Automatic taxobox
|fossil_range = [[Barstovian]]–recent<ref>{{cite web |title=Limosa Brisson 1760 (godwit) |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=210450&is_real_user=1 |publisher=PBDB}}</ref>
| image = Limosa limosa.jpg
| image_caption = [[Black-tailed godwit|Black-tailed]]  (front) and [[Bar-tailed godwit]] (back)
| taxon = Limosa
| type_species = ''[[Black-tailed Godwit|Scolopax limosa]]''
| type_species_authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758
| authority = [[Mathurin Jacques Brisson|Brisson]], 1760
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = 4, see [[#Taxonomy|text]]
}}

'''Godwits ''' are a group of four large, long-billed, long-legged and strongly [[bird migration|migratory]] [[wader]]s of the bird [[genus]] '''''Limosa'''''. Their long bills allow them to probe deeply in the sand for aquatic worms and [[mollusca|mollusc]]s. In their winter range, they flock together where food is plentiful. They frequent tidal shorelines, breeding in northern climates in summer and migrating south in winter. A female [[bar-tailed godwit]] made a flight of 29,000&nbsp;km (18,000&nbsp;mi), flying {{Convert|11680|km|mi}} of it without stopping.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bird Completes Epic Flight Across the Pacific |website=ScienceDaily|agency=US Geological Survey |date=17 September 2007 |url= https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070915131205.htm}}</ref> In 2020 a male bar-tailed godwit flew about {{Convert|12,200|km|mi}} non-stop in its migration from Alaska to New Zealand, previously a record for avian non-stop flight.<ref>{{Cite web |title='Jet fighter' godwit breaks world record for non-stop bird flight |last=Boffey |first=Daniel |newspaper=The Guardian |date=13 October 2020 |url= https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/13/jet-fighter-godwit-breaks-world-record-for-non-stop-bird-flight}}</ref>
In October 2022, a 5 month old, male bar-tailed godwit was tracked from [[Alaska]] to [[Tasmania]], a trip that took 11 days, and recorded a non-stop flight of {{Convert|8400|mi|km}}.<ref>{{Cite web |title=An Incredible Bird Was Tracked As It Made A Cross-Globe Journey From Alaska To Tasmania (video) |website=The Weather Channel |date=27 October 2022 |url= https://weather.com/science/nature/video/an-incredible-bird-was-tracked-as-it-made-a-cross-globe-journey-from-alaska-to?pl=pl-the-latest |access-date=27 October 2022}}</ref>

The godwits can be distinguished from the [[curlew]]s by their straight or slightly upturned bills, and from the [[dowitcher]]s by their longer legs. The winter plumages are fairly drab, but three species have reddish underparts when breeding. The females are appreciably larger than the males.

Godwits were once popular as food in the [[British Isles]].  Sir [[Thomas Browne]] writing in about 1682 noted that godwits "were accounted the daintiest dish in England".<ref name=OED/>

[[File:Waders in flight Roebuck Bay.jpg|thumb|A flock of migratory waders, dominated by bar-tailed ]]