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Do Male Godwits Develop Black Bills in Breeding Plumage?

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Subject: Do Male Godwits Develop Black Bills in Breeding Plumage?
From: Dennis Paulson <>
Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2003 08:41:52 -0800
Laurie, research I did for my shorebird book indicated to me that breeding Bar-tailed Godwits have the least pink on their bill of any of the godwit species, and they can have just about an entirely black bill in breeding season. Eastern Asian (Australian) ones seem to average less pink than European ones, so more likely to be all black.

Regards,
Dennis

My tentative conclusion is that it is a male bar-tailed godwit, and I would like to know if there are many records of black-billed godwits around?

Regards, Laurie.

--
Dennis Paulson, Director                           phone 253-879-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History                 fax 253-879-3352
University of Puget Sound                       e-mail 
1500 N. Warner, #1088
Tacoma, WA 98416-1088
http://www.ups.edu/biology/museum/museum.html

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