Bar-tailed Godwit

Limosa lapponicaOrder: CHARADRIIFORMES Family: Sandpipers (Scolopacidae)

Codes: Common Name: BTGO Scientific Name: LIMLAP ITIS Taxonomic No.: 176687

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Overview

Bar-tailed Godwit: Large shorebird, long upcurved bill, scaled brown, black and gray mottled upperparts, pale red-brown underparts. Tail is white with distinctive dark bars. Legs, feet are dark gray. Feeds by wading in water, probing mud with side-to-side motion. Direct flight with steady wingbeats.

Range and Habitat

Bar-tailed Godwit: Two subspecies occur in North America: 1) Baueri breeds in Alaska and migrates along Pacific coast; 2) European lapponica is a rare migrant along Atlantic coast; breeds on lowland tundra, but sometimes in upland areas with trees. On passage and in winter usually found on coasts, particularly in estuaries and sheltered sandy shores.

Topo Map: Sandpiper-like Body

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"tititi", "kuwit"

Interesting Facts

Bar-tailed Godwits have recently been shown to undertake the longest non-stop flight of any bird. Using satellite tracking, birds in New Zealand were tagged and tracked all the way to the Yellow Sea in China. The birds flew almost 7,000 miles in 9 days.

They use low pressure systems to help them migrate and take advantage of the 500 to 800 miles of strong tailwinds.

Since the birds don’t need their guts to feed during flight, they’ve evolved to shrink them, replacing the weight with fat and muscle.

A group of godwits are collectively known as an "omniscience", "pantheon", and "prayer" of godwits.

Bird Term Glossary

Author

Gary Owen Dick

Artist

Imran Kahn

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Bar-tailed Godwit

● Song: "tititi", "kuwit"

● Foraging & Feeding: Bar-tailed Godwit: Feeds on mollusks, worms, and aquatic insects; forages in shallows or over exposed flats, probing by jabbing long bill rapidly into the mud.

● Breeding & nesting: Bar-tailed Godwit: Two to four brown-spotted, olive or pale brown eggs are laid in a shallow cup in ground moss, sometimes lined with vegetation. Incubation ranges from 20 to 21 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Bar-tailed Godwit: Black-tailed Godwit lacks white underwing and barred rump, has longer bill and white wing-bar. Marbled Godwit is larger and lacks red-brown tones.

Flight Pattern

Direct flight with strong steady wing beats.

● Range & Habitat: Bar-tailed Godwit: Two subspecies occur in North America: 1) Baueri breeds in Alaska and migrates along Pacific coast; 2) European lapponica is a rare migrant along Atlantic coast; breeds on lowland tundra, but sometimes in upland areas with trees. On passage and in winter usually found on coasts, particularly in estuaries and sheltered sandy shores.

^BreedingMonogamous, Colonial

^PopulationYes but uncommon

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight10.8 Ounces

Sandpiper-like Body

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America