Large. Long, almost straight two-tone bill. Sexes alike.
Adults: Breeding: Neck, sides of face, rufous red with fine dark brown streaks on face and hind neck. Crown, rufous red heavily streaked dark brown. Eyebrow, white becoming rufous red behind the eye. Eye, dark brown. Eyering, white. Back, wing coverts, dark brown mixed with rufous red. Rump, base of tail, white strongly contrasting with remainder of black tail. Wing bar, broad, white formed by tips of greater coverts and white bases to secondaries and inner primaries. Flight feathers, black. Throat, center of belly, undertail coverts, underwing, white. Breast, rufous red, barred with brown and buff. Belly, white barred with dark brown. Bill, brown at tip, pinkish at base. Legs, dark grey. Non-breeding: Upperparts, grey brown with broad white wing bar, white rump, and base to tail contrasting with remainder of black tail. Throat, belly, undertail coverts, underwing, white. Breast, neck, pale greyish-brown.
Immatures: Similar to non-breeding adult, but breast washed with reddish-buff.
Other Names (World)
Black-tailed Godwit, Eastern Black-tailed Godwit, Large Godwit, Red Godwit
Family
Scolopacidae (Sandpipers, Snipes, Phalaropes)
Habitat
Breeds at wet meadows, swamps and lake margins in forested areas. In non-breeding season tidal sand- and mudflats, sandspits, estuaries, sewerage ponds, shallow river margins, brackish and saline inland lakes, usually in small flocks.
Afghanistan (NB), Albania (NB), Algeria, Armenia, Australia, Austria (B), Azerbaijan (NB) (P), Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus (B) (P), Belgium (B) (NB) (P), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria (NB), Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, China (mainland), Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Côte dIvoire, Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska) (NB) (P), Cyprus (NB) (P), Czech Republic (B), Denmark (B) (P), Egypt, Eritrea, Estonia (B), Ethiopia, Faroe Islands (B), Finland (B) (P), France (B) (NB) (P), Gambia, Georgia (P), Germany (B) (NB) (P), Ghana, Greece (NB) (P), Guam (NB), Guinea, Guinea-bissau, Hong Kong (China) (NB), Hungary (B) (P), Iceland (B) (P), India, Indonesia, Iran [Islamic Republic of] (NB) (P), Iraq (NB), Ireland (B) (NB) (P), Israel (NB), Italy (B) (NB) (P), Japan, Jordan (P), Kazakhstan (B), Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia (B), Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania (B), Macedonia [The Former Yugoslav Republic of] (NB), Malaysia (NB), Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands (NB), Mauritania, Micronesia [Federated States of] (NB), Moldova [Republic of] (B) (P), Mongolia (B), Montenegro (B) (NB) (P), Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands (B) (NB) (P), New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Northern Mariana Islands (NB), Norway (B), Oman, Pakistan, Palau (NB), Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Poland (B) (P), Portugal (NB), Qatar, Romania (B) (P), Russia (Asian) (B), Russia (Central Asian) (B), Russia (European) (B) (NB) (P), Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia (B) (NB) (P), Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia (Slovak Republic) (B), Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain (B) (NB) (P), Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden (B), Switzerland, Taiwan (China), Tajikistan (B), Tanzania [United Republic of], Thailand (NB), Timor-Leste (NB) (P), Tunisia (NB) (P), Turkey (NB), Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine (B) (NB) (P), United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom (B) (NB) (P), USA (NB), Uzbekistan, Vietnam (NB), Western Sahara, Yemen, Zambia.
Vagrant to Canada, Cape Verde, Comoros, Djibouti, Gabon, Gibraltar, Greenland, Lebanon, Liberia, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Namibia, Puerto Rico, Rwanda, Seychelles, St Kitts and Nevis, St Pierre and Miquelon (P), Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands, Syrian Arab Republic, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Virgin Islands (U.S.), Zimbabwe.
Population
Estimated population is 630,000 - 805,000 (2010) and decreasing.
Status NT
Loss of nesting habitat due to wetland drainage and agricultural intensification, and conversely, abandonment, are the main threats.
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.
Food
Small crustaceans and worms.
Voice
A high, strident yapping 'ki ki ki' or 'kek kek kek'.
Black-tailed Godwit (Limosa limosa) [XC740255]
by Uku Paal from Lahek\u00fcla, Hiiumaa vald, Hiiu County, Estonia (alarm call, flight call)
Black-tailed Godwit (Limosa limosa) [XC810328]
by Peter Boesman from De Blankaart, Diksmuide, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium (song)
Nest
A shallow scrape on the ground, in the open, lined with grass and leaves.
Eggs (Guide)
3 - 4; slightly glossy, olive-green or brown-olive with dark brown blotches, underlying grey patches, particularly at the larger end; pyriform; about 55 x 37 mm. Incubation: 22 - 24 days; by both sexes.
Subspecies
Forms superspecies with Hudsonian Godwit (Limosa haemastica) and sometimes considered conspecific.
Only subspecies melanuroides (small), reaches Australia. Subspecies limosa may reach Australia as a vagrant.
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
limosa (Linnaeus, 1758) - Western and central Europe and Russia east to upper R Yenisey. Winters in Mediterranean and sub-Saharan Africa, and east through Middle East to western India.
islandica Brehm, CL, 1831 - Iceland, Faeroes, Shetland and Lofoten Is. Winters in Ireland, Britain, western France, Spain and Portugal.
melanuroides Gould, 1846 - Disjunct populations in Siberia east of R Yenisey, eastern Mongolia, north-eastern China and Russian Far East. Winters from India, Indochina, Taiwan and Philippines south to Indonesia, New Guinea and Australia.
Similar Species
Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica)
Slightly larger. Non-breeding with non-breeding. Legs, shorter. Bill, shorter and slightly upcurved. Rump, white, with a white wedge that extends up the back. In flight, legs extend further beyong tail tip. Underwing, white.
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