Hudsonian Godwit: Habitat, Migration and Key Features

Context: The 15th Conference of the Parties (COP-15) to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) opened in Pantanal, Brazil, with a high-priority focus on the near-extinction of the Hudsonian Godwit.

About Hudsonian Godwit

Hudsonian Godwit is a large shorebird in the sandpiper family, Scolopacidae.
Breeding Grounds: They nest in three remote sub-Arctic pockets: Western Alaska, the Mackenzie Delta (NWT), and the Hudson Bay Lowlands (Ontario/Manitoba).

Wintering Grounds: They spend the southern summer in Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego (Chile and Argentina).
In a single stretch, a Hudsonian godwit can fly up to 11,000 km without eating, drinking, or sleeping.
- Before long-distance migration, the birds undergo physiological changes, shrinking their digestive organs to save weight and nearly doubling their body mass with fat stores.
Their migration is a study in Aerodynamics and Metabolic efficiency, utilising high-altitude winds (Jet Streams) to cross the ocean.
Indicator Species: Its decline reflects the degradation of three distinct ecosystems: Arctic tundra, mid-continental wetlands, and coastal mudflats.
IUCN Red List: Vulnerable

Major Threats

Arctic Phenological Mismatch: Due to climate change, spring is arriving earlier. Chicks are now hatching after the peak of the insect “bloom”, they need to survive, leading to high starvation rates.
Stopover Habitat Loss: The wetlands in the U.S. Great Plains—crucial “gas stations” for their journey—are being drained for agriculture.
Aquaculture in the South: In Chile, the expansion of salmon and oyster farming has disturbed the intertidal mudflats where the birds feed during the southern winter.

Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS)

Also known as the Bonn Convention, it is an international treaty established in 1979 under the aegis of the United Nations Environment Programme.
It is the only global treaty dedicated exclusively to the conservation of terrestrial, aquatic, and avian migratory species across their entire migratory range.
CMS has 130 Parties, including India and the European Union.
- India has signed CMS MoUs for Siberian cranes, marine turtles, dugongs, and raptors, and is a signatory to the Central Asian Flyway Action Plan.
Core objectives: conserving migratory species, promoting international cooperation, and facilitating scientific and technical collaboration among member states.
It enables species-specific conservation instruments, including legally binding agreements and Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs).
- Appendix I lists threatened migratory species requiring strict protection.
- Appendix II includes migratory species that need or would benefit from international cooperation.