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We look at the gut as the biggest interface between an organism and its environment. Guts are responsive to many external conditions (food availability, pathogen pressure and nutritional demands), whilst at the same time serving internally orchestrated seasonal fitness functions. In our work on the ecology and evolution of shorebirds, i.e. seasonal migrants that travel the length and with of the globe but with distinct habitat preferences, we have taken the gut as a consequential and fully integrated part of the organism-environment interaction. We will review how different parts of the gut respond to changes in food quality and demand, even representing strategic design solutions to challenges and habitats encountered next. Our prime example are molluscivore specialists (especially red knots, Calidris canutus) that in some conditions trade a hard-shell-processing against a food-toxin constraint. A novel level of organismal integration is suggested by the finding that personality differences between individuals correlate with gut size in seemingly adaptive ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]