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WetlandScrapeMedium · 292 g
What the Bar-tailed Godwit sounds like
ID tip
The bar-tailed godwit is a relatively short-legged species of godwit. The bill-to-tail length is 37–41 cm (15–16 in), with a wingspan of 70–80 cm (28–31 in). Males average smaller than females but with much overlap; males weigh 190–400 g (6.7–14.1 oz), while females weigh 260–630 g (9.2–22.2 oz); there is also some regional variation in size (see subspecies, below). The adult has blue-grey legs and a long, tapering, slightly upturned bi-coloured bill, pink at the base and black towards the tip. The neck, breast and belly are unbroken brick red in breeding plumage, and dark brown above.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
When to see the Bar-tailed Godwit
One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is September, the month with the most records.
Where to see the Bar-tailed Godwit
The map shades 125 countries with regular records, and 11 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.
Recorded as a rare visitor in Chile, Serbia, Benin, St. Pierre & Miquelon, Armenia, Kiribati, Wallis & Futuna, Rwanda, Mexico, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives.
About the Bar-tailed Godwit
The bar-tailed godwit is a large and strongly migratory wader in the family Scolopacidae, which feeds on bristle-worms and shellfish on coastal mudflats and estuaries. It has distinctive red breeding plumage, long legs, and a long upturned bill. Bar-tailed godwits breed on Arctic coasts and tundra from Scandinavia to Alaska, and overwinter on coasts in temperate and tropical regions of Australia and New Zealand. The migration of the subspecies Limosa lapponica baueri across the Pacific Ocean from Alaska to New Zealand is the longest known non-stop flight of any bird, and also the longest journey without pausing to feed by any animal.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Easily confused with
Black-tailed GodwitLimosa limosaThe black-tailed godwit is a large wader with long bill (7.5 to 12 cm (3.0 to 4.7 in) long), neck and legs.
Marbled GodwitLimosa fedoaThe total length is 40–50 cm (16–20 in), including a large bill of 8–13 cm (3.1–5.1 in), and wingspan is 70–88 cm (28–35 in).
Hudsonian GodwitLimosa haemasticaAdults have long dark legs and a long pink bill with a slight upward curve and dark at the tip.
Side by side: Bar-tailed Godwit vs Marbled Godwit · Bar-tailed Godwit vs Black-tailed Godwit · Bar-tailed Godwit vs Hudsonian Godwit
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