Funding for NS, MV, and their fieldwork was provided by NWO-ALW TOP grant Shorebirds in space (854.11.004) awarded to TP. RK is funded by the Royal Society. JA benefited from a Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia grant (SFRH/BPD/91527/2012). Long-term godwit research was funded by the Kenniskring weidevogels of the former Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and Food Safety (2007–2010, 2012, 2016); the Province of Fryslân (2013–2016); and the Spinoza Premium 2014 of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) awarded to TP. Additional financial support came from the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds (through It Fryske Gea), the Van der Hucht de Beukelaar Stichting, the Paul and Louise Cook Endowment Ltd., the University of Groningen, BirdLife-Netherlands, and WWF-Netherlands