Limosa lapponica
The Bar-tailed Godwit is a medium-large shorebird renowned for its extraordinary migratory feats, a true marvel of avian endurance. Measuring 37-41 cm in length with a wingspan of 70-80 cm and weighing 200-400 grams, it presents a striking appearance, especially in breeding plumage. Males develop a rich brick-red or cinnamon color across their underparts, head, and neck, contrasting with grey-brown, mottled upperparts. Females are generally duller, with less extensive rufous coloration and of...
This species primarily inhabits arctic and subarctic tundra for breeding, transitioning to coastal estuaries, tidal flats, and sheltered bays for wintering, typically at sea level.
Their diet consists almost exclusively of marine invertebrates, including marine worms, bivalves, crustaceans, and insect larvae, extracted by probing soft substrates.
Bar-tailed Godwits are highly social outside the breeding season, forming immense flocks that can number in the thousands during migration and wintering periods. They are diurnal feeders, primarily foraging by probing their long bills deep into soft mud or sand, often employing a rapid 'sewing ma...
The Bar-tailed Godwit has a vast circumpolar breeding range across the high Arctic and subarctic tundras of Eurasia and western Alaska. The nominate subspecies, *L. l. lapponica*, breeds from Scandinavia eastward to the Taimyr Peninsula, wintering primarily in Western Europe and West Africa. *L. ...
Near Threatened
- The Bar-tailed Godwit holds the world record for the longest non-stop migratory flight by any bird, with one individual (named '4BBRW') flying over 12,200 km (7,580 miles) from Alaska to New Zealand without stopping for food or rest. - To achieve these incredible flights, godwits undergo remark...