Overview
The bar-tailed godwit is a relatively short-legged species of godwit. There is some regional variation in size. The adult has blue-grey legs and a slightly upturned bi-colored bill, pink at the base and black towards the tip. The neck, breast and belly are unbroken brick red in breeding plumage, off white in winter. The back is mottled grey. It is distinguished from the black-tailed godwit (Limosa limosa) by its barred, rather than wholly black, tail and a lack of white wing bars. The most similar species is the Asiatic dowitcher.
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Bird
- Family
- Charadriidae
- Genus
- Limosa
- Species
- lapponica
Habitat
Bar-tailed godwits breed in Arctic tundra and coastal areas with low vegetation, preferring moist, grassy habitats near wetlands. During migration and winter, they inhabit intertidal mudflats, estuaries, and sandy beaches in temperate and tropical coastal regions. These birds are adapted to dynamic environments that provide abundant invertebrates in the mud and sand.
Diet
It eats mainly insects and crustaceans, but also parts of aquatic plants.
Behavior
The nest is a shallow cup in moss sometimes lined with vegetation. Both sexes share incubation of the eggs and care for the young. It was shown in 2007 to undertake the longest non-stop flight of any bird. Birds in New Zealand were tagged and tracked by satellite to the Yellow Sea in China. According to Dr. Clive Minton (Australasian Wader Studies Group): The distance between these two locations is 9,575 km (5,950 mi), but the actual track flown by the bird was 11,026 km (6,851 mi). This was the longest known non-stop flight of any bird. The flight took approximately nine days. At least three other bar-tailed godwits also appear to have reached the Yellow Sea after non-stop flights from New Zealand.
Hunting
More information is needed.
Conservation Status
Listed as Near Threatened by IUCN.