Large. Long, slightly upturned two-tone bill (longer in female). Sexes alike.
Male: Breeding: Crown, back, wing coverts, streaked dark brown and buff. Hind neck, roufous red streaked dark brown. Rump, uppertail coverts, buff with dark brown bars. Tail, barred brown to reddish-brown and dark brown. Eyering, lower half, white. Eye, dark brown, Eyebrow, throat, breast, rufous red, breast with fine streaks on sides. Belly, undertail coverts, mottled rufous red and buff, with some barring on flanks and undertail coverts. Underwing, buff barred with dark brown. Bill, dark brown at tip, pinkish at base. Legs, dark grey. Non-breeding: Eyebrow, whitish. Lores, white with dark flecks continuing through eye to ear forming indistinct dark line. Upperparts, greyish-brown, feathers with dark brown shafts. Rump, uppertail coverts, white with dark brown bars. Tail, mostly greyish-brown with indistinct dark bars and tipped white. Throat, belly, white. Breast, mottled pale brownish-grey. Indistinct barring on sides, flanks, and sides of undertail coverts. Underwing, white, barred or mottled with dark brown.
Female: Breeding: Similar to male but usually lacks rufous red on underparts. Non-breeding: As for male.
Other Names (World)
Bar-tailed Godwit, Bar-rumped Godwit, Pacific Ocean Godwit, Southern Godwit, Small Godwit, Godwin
Family
Scolopacidae (Sandpipers, Snipes, Phalaropes)
Widespread summer migrant (September - April). Some overwinter.
Habitat
Breeds on tundra and forest tundra. In non-beeding season tidal sand- and mudflats, estuaries, sewerage ponds, shallow river margins, brackish and saline inland lakes, usually in flocks.
Algeria, American Samoa, Angola, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan (NB) (P), Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium (NB), Benin (NB), Botswana, British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria (NB), Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, China (mainland) (NB), Comoros, Congo, Côte dIvoire, Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska) (NB), Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark (NB) (P), Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia (P), Fiji, Finland (B) (P), France (NB) (P), Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany (NB) (P), Ghana, Greece (NB) (P), Guam (NB), Guinea, Guinea-bissau, Hong Kong (China), Hungary, Iceland (NB), India, Indonesia, Iran [Islamic Republic of] (NB), Iraq (NB) (P), Ireland (NB), Israel, Italy (NB) (P), Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Macedonia [The Former Yugoslav Republic of] (NB), Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia (NB), Maldives, Marshall Islands (NB), Mauritania, Mayotte, Micronesia [Federated States of] (NB), Moldova [Republic of], Mongolia (B), Morocco, Mozambique (NB) (P), Namibia, Nauru, Netherlands (NB) (P), New Caledonia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Niue, North Korea, Northern Mariana Islands (NB), Norway (B) (P), Oman (NB), Pakistan, Palau (NB), Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Poland (P), Portugal (NB), Puerto Rico, Qatar, Russia (Asian) (B), Russia (Central Asian) (B) (P), Russia (European) (B) (NB) (P), Samoa, Saudi Arabia (NB) (P), Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia (Slovak Republic), Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain (NB) (P), Sri Lanka, St Helena, Sudan, Sweden (B) (P), Switzerland, Taiwan (China), Tanzania [United Republic of], Thailand, Timor-Leste (NB) (P), Togo, Tonga, Tunisia (NB), Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine (P), United Arab Emirates (NB), United Kingdom (NB) (P), USA (B), Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vietnam, Western Sahara, Yemen, Zambia.
Vagrant to Afghanistan, Brazil, Burundi, Christmas Island, Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Equatorial Guinea, Faroe Islands, French Southern Territories, Gibraltar, Jordan, Lebanon, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Montenegro, Réunion, Romania, Sâo Tomé e Principe, Serbia, Slovenia, St Pierre and Miquelon (P), Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands, Venezuela, Virgin Islands (U.S.), Zimbabwe.
Food
Small crustaceans and worms. Insects on Tundra, worms, shrimps and other crustaceans on seashores.
Voice
A strident 'ke ke ke', 'kek kek' or 'kirrik', slower and lower pitched than Black-tailed Godwit (Limosa limosa). Prior to north-bound migration 'k-tek k-tek k-tek' is heard.
Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica) [XC765443]
by Martin Billard from Durgun, Khovd, Mongolia (call, \)
Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa) [XC758945]
by Ricardo Hevia from Ballyvoge, Cork, County Cork, Ireland (nocturnal flight call)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Does not breed in Australia. Breeds June - July in Siberia and Alaska.
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Nest
A shallow scrape on a dry patch of ground, in a marshy area, with a sparse lining.
Eggs (Guide)
3 - 4; slightly glossy, olive-green or brown-green blotched with dark olive-brown, particularly at the larger end; pyriform; about 54 x 37 mm. Incubation: 20 - 22 days; probably by both sexes.
Subspecies
Subspecies menzbieri sometimes included within subspecies baueri.
Subspecies menzbieri and baueri, found in Australia.
The following 4 subspecies are recognised:
lapponica (Linnaeus, 1758) - Breeds in northern Eurasia from Taymyr to Lappland.
menzbieri Portenko, 1936 - Northern Siberia, between the Khatanga River and the delta of the Kolyma River.
baueri Naumann, JF, 1836 - Breeds in norhern Siberia from te Kolyma River, east to the Chukotski Peninsula and in western Alaska from Wales to Barrow.
taymyrensis Engelmoer & Roselaar, 1998 - North-western and north-central Siberia.
Similar Species
Asian Dowitcher (Limnodromus semipalmatus)
Slightly smaller. Non-breeding with non-breeding. Bill, straight, untapered, with a bulbous tip. Eyebrow, larger and white. Upperparts, more heavily marked. More white in the rump. Underwing, white. Legs, black.
Black-tailed Godwit (Limosa limosa)
Slightly smaller. Non-breeding with non-breeding. Legs, longer. Bill, longer and straighter. Belly, barred dark brown and white. In flight, conspicuous white wing bar and larger white rump, and legs extend further beyong tail tip. Underwing, white.
Hudsonian Godwit (Limosa haemastica)
Slightly smaller. Non-breeding with non-breeding. Bill, similarly upturned. Face, pale with more distinct eyebrow. Underwing, black. Shows a short white wing bar from both above and below. Rump, narrow and white, lacking the white wedge up the back. Tail, has narrow whitish tips. Flanks show dark markings.
Hudsonian Godwit (Limosa haemastica) is a rare vagrant. Mainly southern coast of NSW, Victoria, SA. Also in Tasmania.
Compare Images
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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BirdLife International Species Factsheet