Bar-tailed Godwit preening.
Photo: G Little © Australian Museum
Bar-tailed Godwits.
Photo: G Little © Australian Museum
Distribution map of Limosa lapponica
Map © Birds Australia Birdata
Bar-tailed Godwit
Scientific name: Limosa lapponica
Family: Scolopacidae
Order: Charadriiformes
- Featured Bird Groups
- Shore birds and waders
What does it look like?
Description
Bar-tailed Godwits are quite large waders, with females being bigger than males. The Bar-tailed Godwit is mainly mottled brown above and lighter and more uniform buff below. It has dull white underwings, and a long, slightly upturned bill. As the name suggests, the white tail is barred with brown. This is the non-breeding plumage of the Bar-tailed Godwit and is the main phase seen in Australia. The breeding plumage is darker and more rufous, with females duller than males. Young birds resemble non-breeding birds.
Similar species
The Bar-tailed Godwit is often difficult to distinguish from the similar Black-tailed Godwit, Limosa limosa. This second species lacks the white underwing and barred rump, and has a longer bill and a white wingbar.
Where does it live?
Distribution
Bar-tailed Godwits arrive in Australia each year in August from breeding grounds in the northern hemisphere. Birds are more numerous in northern Australia.
Habitat
Bar-tailed Godwits inhabit estuarine mudflats, beaches and mangroves. They are common in coastal areas around Australia. They are social birds and are often seen in large flocks and in the company of other waders.
Seasonal movements
Tens of thousands of birds land in Australia's north-west and move around the coast of Australia, rather than across the land. While most birds leave Australia in April and May, to return to their breeding grounds, some birds (mostly young birds) remain all year round.
What does it do?
Feeding
Bar-tailed Godwits feed on molluscs, worms and aquatic insects. Birds wade through the shallows or over exposed mud and probe their long bills rapidly into the bottom to find food. Feeding parties may number up to 30 or more birds, and include non-breeding migrants and young birds that remain all year round
Breeding
The Bar-tailed Godwit is a non-breeding migrant in Australia. Breeding take place each year in Scandinavia, northern Asia and Alaska. The nest is a shallow cup in moss, and is either lined with vegetation or is unlined. Both sexes share incubation of the eggs and care for the young.
References
Pizzey, G. and Knight, F. 1997. Field Guide to the Birds of Australia. Angus and Robertson, Sydney.
Schodde, R. and Tideman, S.C. (eds) 1990. Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds (2nd Edition). Reader's Digest (Australia) Pty Ltd, Sydney.