Bar-tailed Godwit
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| Limosa lapponica (Linnaeus, 1758) |
The Bar-tailed Godwit, Limosa lapponica, is a large shorebird that makes the longest non-stop flight known for any bird, 11,000 km from Alaska to New Zealand (BTO News 258: 3, 2005).
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[edit] Description
It is a relatively short-legged member of the Godwit genus.
Adults have blue-grey legs and a very long dark bill with a slight upward curve and pink at the tip. The neck, breast and belly are unstreaked brick red in breeding plumage, off white in winter. The back is mottled grey.
They are distinguished from Black-tailed Godwit by their barred, rather than wholly black, tails and a lack of white wing bars. The most similar species is the rare Asiatic Dowitcher.
[edit] Diet
These birds forage by probing on mudflats or in marshes. In short vegetation, they may pick up insects by sight. They mainly eat insects and crustaceans, but also eat parts of aquatic plants.
[edit] Breeding
Their breeding habitat is arctic Asia and western Alaska on open tundra. They nest on the ground, usually in short vegetation.
[edit] Migrations
They migrate in flocks to coastal western Europe, Africa, South Asia, Australia and New Zealand - where the sub-species Limosa lapponica baueri is called Kūaka in Māori.[1] [2]
Stray birds from Europe and Asia occasionally appear on both North American coasts.
[edit] Protection
The Bar-tailed Godwit is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
[edit] References
- ^ Barrie Heather and Hugh Robertson, "The Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand" ( revised edition), Viking, 2005
- ^ http://www.birdingnz.co.nz/newzealandbirds.php?aid=139
- BirdLife International (2004). Limosa lapponica. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
