Imagine being known for your good flavour on the dinner table. The godwit was known, several hundred years ago, to be a “god whit,” a good creature (for the dinner table, it is presumed).

It was netted and sold at market, fetching even more than a snipe might have sold for in those long ago days.

These marbled godwits were dabbling around at the beach, poking their long bills into the sand in search of any small invertebrates they might feast on.

Their long legs help to keep their bodies from getting wet unnecessarily, but these birds do swim. For foraging though, they have more luck near the shore in waters shallow enough to walk around in without getting their bellies wet. Their long bills can easily probe the sand or mud there without having to dive for what may or may not be there.

They are no longer considered a target as a gamebird. Luckily for them, it is too much work to hunt and prepare these birds for the small amount of meat they offer for the table.

And like the turkeys that the president pardons each year, these godwits are thankful for their own version of the “Passover” at Thanksgiving.