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Wikipedia

Bar-tailed godwit

August 27, 2023

The bar-tailed godwit (Limosa lapponica) is a large and strongly migratory wader in the family Scolopacidae, which feeds on bristle-worms and shellfish on coastal mudflats and estuaries. It has distinctive red breeding plumage, long legs, and a long upturned bill. Bar-tailed godwits breed on Arctic coasts and tundra from Scandinavia to Alaska, and overwinter on coasts in temperate and tropical regions of Australia and New Zealand. The migration of the subspecies Limosa lapponica baueri across the Pacific Ocean from Alaska to New Zealand is the longest known non-stop flight of any bird, and also the longest journey without pausing to feed by any animal. The round-trip migration for this subspecies is over 29,000 km (18,020 mi).[2]

Bar-tailed godwit
Breeding plumage
Non-breeding plumage
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Scolopacidae
Genus: Limosa
Species:
L. lapponica
Binomial name
Limosa lapponica
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
  • Scolopax lapponica Linnaeus, 1758

Taxonomy Edit

The bar-tailed godwit was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Scolopax limosa.[3] It is now placed with three other godwits in the genus Limosa that was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760.[4][5] The genus name Limosa is from Latin and means "muddy", from limus, "mud", referring to its preferred habitat. The specific name lapponica refers to Lapland.[6][7]

The English term "godwit" was first recorded in about 1416–17 and may be an imitation of the bird's call, or be derived from the Old English "god whit", meaning "good creature", perhaps referring to its eating qualities.[8][7] Its English name is taken from the black-and-white barred tail and upper tail coverts in this species.[7] In French it is known as barge rousse, Russian maliy veretennik, Inuit chiuchiuchiak, Yup'ik tevatevaaq, and Māori kūaka.[7][9]

Four subspecies are recognised:[5]

  • L. l. lapponica (Linnaeus, 1758) – breeds from northern Scandinavia east to the Yamal Peninsula; winters western coasts of Europe and Africa from the British Isles and the Netherlands south to South Africa, and also around the Persian Gulf. Smallest subspecies, males up to 360 g (13 oz), females to 450 g (16 oz)
  • L. l. taymyrensis Engelmoer & Roselaar, 1998 – breeds in central Siberia from the Yamal Peninsula east to the Anabar River delta;[10] winters in southwest Asia and coasts of Africa to South Africa
  • L. l. menzbieri – Portenko, 1936 – breeds northeastern Asia from the Anabar River east to the Kolyma River delta; winters in southeast Asia and northwest Australia
  • L. l. baueri – Naumann, 1836 – breeds in northeast Siberia to north and west Alaska; winters in China and Australasia. Largest subspecies. (includes anadyrensis)[11]

Description Edit

 
In flight, showing tail barring
Limosa lapponica, Finland

The bar-tailed godwit is a relatively short-legged species of godwit. The bill-to-tail length is 37–41 cm (15–16 in), with a wingspan of 70–80 cm (28–31 in). Males average smaller than females but with much overlap; males weigh 190–400 g (6.7–14.1 oz), while females weigh 260–630 g (9.2–22.2 oz); there is also some regional variation in size (see subspecies, below). The adult has blue-grey legs and a long, tapering, slightly upturned bi-colored bill: pink at the base and black towards the tip. The neck, breast and belly are unbroken brick red in breeding plumage, and dark brown above.[12][13] Females breeding plumage is much duller than males, with a chestnut to cinnamon belly.[7] Breeding plumage is not fully apparent until the third year, and there are three distinguishable age classes; during their first migration north immature males are noticeably paler in colour than more mature males.[14] Non-breeding birds seen in the Southern Hemisphere are plain grey-brown with darker feather centres, giving them a striped look, and are whitish underneath. Juveniles are similar to non-breeding adults but more buff overall with streaked plumages on flanks and breast.[7]

Alaska-breeding bar-tailed godwits show an increase in body size from north to south, but this trend is not apparent in their non-breeding grounds in New Zealand; birds of different sizes mix freely.[15]

Limosa lapponica is distinguished from the black-tailed godwit (Limosa limosa) by its black-and-white horizontally-barred (rather than wholly black) tail, and lack of white wing bars. The most similar species is the Asiatic dowitcher (Limnodromus semipalmatus).

Distribution and migration Edit

 
Banding L. l. baueri at Miranda Shorebird Centre, New Zealand

All bar-tailed godwits spend the Northern Hemisphere summer in the Arctic, where they breed, and make a long-distance migration south in winter to more temperate areas. L. l. lapponica make the shortest migration, some only as far as the North Sea, while others travel as far as India.[7] Bar-tailed godwits nesting in Alaska (L. l. baueri) travel all the way to Australia and New Zealand. They undertake the longest non-stop migrations of any bird, and to fuel they carry the greatest fat loads of any migratory bird so far studied, reducing the size of their digestive organs to do so.[7][2]

L. l. bauri breeds in Alaska and spends the non-breeding season in eastern Australia and New Zealand. L. l. menzbieri breeds in Siberia and migrates to northern and western Australia.[16] Birds breeding in Siberia follow the coast of Asia northwards and southwards, but those breeding in Alaska migrate directly across the Pacific to Australasia 11,000 km (6,835 mi) away.[16] To track the return journey, seven birds in New Zealand were tagged with surgically-implanted transmitters and tracked by satellite to the Yellow Sea in China, a distance of 9,575 km (5,950 mi); the actual track flown by one bird was 11,026 km (6,851 mi), taking nine days. At least three other bar-tailed godwits also appear to have reached the Yellow Sea after non-stop flights from New Zealand.

 
Routes of satellite tagged bar-tailed godwits migrating north from New Zealand to Korea and China

One specific female of the flock, nicknamed "E7", flew onward from China to Alaska and stayed there for the breeding season. Then in August 2007 she departed on an eight-day non-stop flight from western Alaska to the Piako River near Thames, New Zealand, setting a new known flight record of 11,680 km (7,258 mi). This L. l. bauri female made a 174 day round-trip journey of 29,280 km (18,194 mi) with 20 days of flying.[17] In 2021, a male bar-tailed godwit, 4BBRW, set a new record for non-stop migratory flight with an 8,100 mile (approximately 13035km) flight from Alaska, USA to New South Wales, Australia. The same individual held a previous record in 2020.[18] In 2022, a godwit numbered 234684 left Alaska on 13 October and flew non-stop to Tasmania, the first time a tagged bird has flown this route. It flew a minimum of 13,560 km (8,430 mi) in 11 days 1 hour: a record non-stop distance.[19]

To fuel such long journeys, L. l. baueri birds in New Zealand deposit much more fat for their body size than other subspecies, allowing them to fly 6,000 km (3,728 mi) to 8,600 km (5,344 mi).[20] Both Australasian subspecies head north to their breeding grounds along the coast of Asia to the Yalu Jiang coastal wetland in the north Yellow Sea, the most important staging grounds for godwits and great knots (Calidris tenuirostris) in their northern migration.[21] Baueri birds rested for about 41 days before continuing approximately 7,000 km (4,350 mi) on to Alaska. Menzbieri spent on average 38 days in the Yellow Sea region and flew an additional 4,100 km (2,548 mi) to high Arctic Russia.[17]

Birds will often depart early from New Zealand if there are favourable winds; they seem to be able to predict weather patterns that will assist them on the entire migration route.[22] Birds that had nested in southern Alaska were larger and departed New Zealand earliest; this pattern was repeated six months later, with birds departing Alaska in the same order they arrived, and over the same span of days.[23] Birds in southern New Zealand departed on average 9–11 days earlier than birds in more northern sites.[24] Godwits arrive at the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in Alaska in two waves; local breeders in early May, and larger flocks in the third week of May en route to breeding grounds further north.[25]

 
Distribution of the five subspecies of Limosa lapponica, showing Northern Hemisphere summer breeding grounds (red), non-breeding overwintering areas (blue) and migration routes in each direction

Behaviour and ecology Edit

Breeding Edit

The bar-tailed godwit is a non-breeding migrant in Australia and New Zealand. Birds first depart for their northern hemisphere breeding sites at age 2–4.[24] Breeding take place each year in Scandinavia, northern Asia, and Alaska. The nest is a shallow cup in moss sometimes lined with vegetation. Clutch size is from 2 to 5, averaging four.[7] Both sexes share incubation of the eggs for 20 to 21 days, the female during the day and the male at night.[7]

Food and feeding Edit

Limosa lapponica in winter plumage on Netherlands mudflats

The birds' main source of food in wetlands is bristle-worms (up to 70%), supplemented by small bivalves and crustaceans. In wet pastures, bar-tailed godwits eat invertebrates.[26] In a major staging site in the northern Yellow Sea, they continue to hunt polychaetes, but most of their food intake is the bivalve mollusc Potamocorbula laevis, which they generally swallow whole.[27]

Male bar-tailed godwits are smaller than females and have shorter bills. In a study at the Manawatū Estuary, shorter-billed birds (males) fed mostly on small surface prey like Potamopyrgus snails, half being snail specialists, whereas females consumed more deeply-buried prey such as worms; the birds also displayed some individual food preferences.[28]

Status Edit

The status of the bar-tailed godwit is Near Threatened, and the population is declining.[1] Fewer birds have been using East African estuaries since 1979, and there has been a steady decline in numbers around the Kola Peninsula, Siberia, since 1930.[7] The global population is estimated to number 1,099,000–1,149,000 individuals.[1]

Both L. l. bauri and L. l. menzbieri adult survival rates decreased between 2005 and 2012, probably because of the loss of intertidal staging areas in the Yellow Sea.[29] The construction of seawalls and the reclamation of mudflats have led to a critical reduction in food supplies for migrating birds, particularly subspecies like L. l. menzbieri that rely on the Yalu Jiang estuary on both their northward and southward migrations.[30] Numbers of L. l. baueri have declined in New Zealand from over 100,000 in the late 1980s to 67,500 in 2018.[31]

The bar-tailed godwit is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.[32] In New Zealand the species is protected under the 1953 Wildlife Act.[26][33]

Gallery Edit

  •  

    Egg

  •  

    L. l. baueri in Tasmania, Australia (note the barring on the tail)

  •  

    Breeding plumage, Dorset

  •  

    In flight, Dorset

  •  

    L. l. lapponica, Spain

References Edit

  1. ^ a b c BirdLife International (2017). "Limosa lapponica". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T22693158A111221714. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T22693158A111221714.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b Gill, R.E.; Tibbitts, T.L.; Douglas, D.C.; Handel, C.M.; Mulcahy, D.M.; Gottschalck, J.C.; Warnock, N.; McCaffery, B.J.; Battley, P.F.; Piersma, T. (2009). "Extreme endurance flights by landbirds crossing the Pacific Ocean: ecological corridor rather than barrier?". Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 276 (1656): 447–457. doi:10.1098/rspb.2008.1142. PMC 2664343. PMID 18974033.
  3. ^ Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 147.
  4. ^ Brisson, Mathurin Jacques (1760). Ornithologie, ou, Méthode Contenant la Divisio Oiseaux en Ordres, Sections, Genres, Especes & leurs Variétés (in French and Latin). Paris: Jean-Baptiste Bauche. Vol. 1, p. 48, Vol. 5, p. 261.
  5. ^ a b Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2021). "Sandpipers, snipes, coursers". IOC World Bird List Version 11.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  6. ^ Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 219, 227. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k McCaffery, B.; Gill, R. (2001). "Bar-Tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica)". In Poole, A.; Gill, F. (eds.). Birds of North America. Vol. 581. Philadelphia, PA: The Birds of North America, Inc.
  8. ^ "Godwit". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  9. ^ Stap, Don (15 October 2009). "Flight of the Kuaka: A Godwit Makes the Longest Nonstop Flight Ever Recorded". Living Bird: 28–34.
  10. ^ Engelmoer, M.; Roselaar, C. (1998). Geographical variation in waders. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
  11. ^ Dickinson, E.C.; Remsen, J.V. Jr., eds. (2013). The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World: Volume 1: Non-passerines (4th ed.). Eastbourne, UK: Aves Press. p. 210, Note 9. ISBN 978-0-9568611-0-8.
  12. ^ del Hoyo, J.; Elliot, A.; Sargatal, J., eds. (1996). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 3. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 84-87334-15-6.
  13. ^ Snow, D.W.; Perrins, C.M. (1998). The Birds of the Western Palearctic (Concise ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-854099-X.
  14. ^ Battley, Phil F. (2007). "Plumage and Timing of Migration in Bar-Tailed Godwits: A Comment on Drent Et al. (2003)" (PDF). Oikos. 116 (2): 349–352. doi:10.1111/j.0030-1299.2007.15474.x. ISSN 0030-1299. JSTOR 40235067.
  15. ^ Conklin, Jesse R.; Battley, Phil F.; Potter, Murray A.; Ruthrauff, Dan R. (2011). "Geographic Variation in Morphology of Alaska-Breeding Bar-Tailed Godwits (Limosa lapponica) is Not Maintained on their Nonbreeding Grounds in New Zealand". The Auk. 128 (2): 363–373. doi:10.1525/auk.2011.10231. hdl:11370/a93cf946-9d63-414c-93a4-99c1d3ce6589. S2CID 84073551.
  16. ^ a b Gill, Robert E. Jr.; Piersma, Theunis; Hufford, Gary; Servranckx, R.; Riegen, Adrian C. (2005). "Crossing the ultimate ecological barrier: Evidence for an 11,000-km-long non-stop flight from Alaska to New Zealand and Eastern Australia by Bar-tailed Godwits". The Condor. 107 (1): 120. doi:10.1093/condor/107.1.1.
  17. ^ a b Battley, Phil F.; Warnock, Nils; Tibbitts, T. Lee; Gill, Robert E.; Piersma, Theunis; Hassell, Chris J.; Douglas, David C.; Mulcahy, Daniel M.; Gartrell, Brett D.; Schuckard, Rob; Melville, David S. (2012). "Contrasting extreme long-distance migration patterns in bar-tailed godwits Limosa lapponica" (PDF). Journal of Avian Biology. 43 (1): 21–32. doi:10.1111/j.1600-048X.2011.05473.x. hdl:11370/7766cc5c-614d-49bb-afe2-65d439997d5e. ISSN 1600-048X.
  18. ^ Leffer, Lauren (8 October 2021). "These Mighty Shorebirds Keep Breaking Flight Records--and You Can Follow Along". audubon.org. Audubon Magazine. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
  19. ^ "Young godwit sets new flight record". BirdGuides.com. 25 October 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  20. ^ Battley, Phil F.; Piersma, Theunis (2005). "Body Composition and Flight Ranges of Bar-Tailed Godwits (Limosa lapponica baueri) from New Zealand". The Auk. 122 (3): 922–937. doi:10.1093/auk/122.3.922. ISSN 0004-8038. JSTOR 4090597.
  21. ^ Choi, Chi-Yeung; Battley, Phil F.; Potter, Murray A.; Rogers, Ken G.; Ma, Zhijun (2015). "The importance of Yalu Jiang coastal wetland in the north Yellow Sea to Bar-tailed Godwits Limosa lapponica and Great Knots Calidris tenuirostris during northward migration". Bird Conservation International. 25 (1): 53–70. doi:10.1017/S0959270914000124. ISSN 0959-2709.
  22. ^ Conklin, Jesse R.; Battley, Phil F. (2011). "Impacts of wind on individual migration schedules of New Zealand bar-tailed godwits". Behavioral Ecology. 22 (4): 854–861. doi:10.1093/beheco/arr054.
  23. ^ Conklin, Jesse R.; Battley, Phil F.; Potter, Murray A.; Fox, James W. (2010). "Breeding latitude drives individual schedules in a trans-hemispheric migrant bird". Nature Communications. 1 (1): 67. Bibcode:2010NatCo...1...67C. doi:10.1038/ncomms1072. PMID 20842198.
  24. ^ a b Battley, Phil F.; Conklin, Jesse R.; Parody-Merino, Ángela M.; Langlands, Peter A.; Southey, Ian; Burns, Thomas; Melville, David S.; Schuckard, Rob; Riegen, Adrian C.; Potter, Murray A. (2020). "Interacting Roles of Breeding Geography and Early-Life Settlement in Godwit Migration Timing". Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 8: 52. doi:10.3389/fevo.2020.00052. ISSN 2296-701X.
  25. ^ McCaffery, B.J. & Gill, Jr, Robert & Jr, & Melville, David & Riegen, A. & Tomkovich, Pavel & Dementyev, M. & Sexson, M & Schuckard, Rob & Lovibond, S.. (2010). "Variation in timing, behaviours, and plumage of spring migrant Bar-tailed Godwits on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska." Wader Study Group Bulletin. 117(3): 179–185.
  26. ^ a b Woodley, K (2013). Miskelly, C. M. (ed.). "Bar-tailed godwit". nzbirdsonline.org.nz. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
  27. ^ Choi, Chi-Yeung; Battley, Phil F.; Potter, Murray A.; Ma, Zhijun; Melville, David S.; Sukkaewmanee, Parinya (2017). "How migratory shorebirds selectively exploit prey at a staging site dominated by a single prey species". The Auk. 134 (1): 76–91. doi:10.1642/AUK-16-58.1. ISSN 0004-8038.
  28. ^ Ross, Tobias Alexander (2018). The roles of morphology, individuality and arrival from migration in the foraging ecology of bar-tailed godwits at the Manawatū River estuary (MSc thesis). Massey University.
  29. ^ Conklin, Jesse R.; Lok, Tamar; Melville, David S.; Riegen, Adrian C.; Schuckard, Rob; Piersma, Theunis; Battley, Phil F. (2016). "Declining adult survival of New Zealand Bar-tailed Godwits during 2005–2012 despite apparent population stability" (PDF). Emu - Austral Ornithology. 116 (2): 147–157. doi:10.1071/MU15058. ISSN 0158-4197. S2CID 86374453.
  30. ^ Choi, Chi-Yeung (2015). The Northward migration stopover ecology of Bar-tailed Godwits and Great Knots in the Yalu Jiang Estuary, National Nature Reserve, China (PhD thesis). Massey University.
  31. ^ Blundell, Sally (8 November 2019). . NZ Listener. Archived from the original on 9 February 2020. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
  32. ^ "Species list". AEWA.
  33. ^ "Protected species". www.doc.govt.nz. Retrieved 2020-03-18.

Identification Edit

External links Edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Limosa lapponica.
 
Wikispecies has information related to Limosa lapponica.
  • Bar-tailed godwit species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
  • BirdLife species factsheet for Limosa lapponica
  • "Limosa lapponica". Avibase.  
  • "Bar-tailed godwit media". Internet Bird Collection.
  • Bar-tailed godwit photo gallery at VIREO (Drexel University)
  • Interactive range map of Limosa lapponica at IUCN Red List maps
  • Audio recordings of Bar-tailed godwit on Xeno-canto.
  • Limosa lapponica in Field Guide: Birds of the World on Flickr
  • media from ARKive  
  • The kūaka discussed on RNZ Critter of the Week, 21 Feb 2020

August 27, 2023
tailed, godwit, tailed, godwit, limosa, lapponica, large, strongly, migratory, wader, family, scolopacidae, which, feeds, bristle, worms, shellfish, coastal, mudflats, estuaries, distinctive, breeding, plumage, long, legs, long, upturned, bill, breed, arctic, . The bar tailed godwit Limosa lapponica is a large and strongly migratory wader in the family Scolopacidae which feeds on bristle worms and shellfish on coastal mudflats and estuaries It has distinctive red breeding plumage long legs and a long upturned bill Bar tailed godwits breed on Arctic coasts and tundra from Scandinavia to Alaska and overwinter on coasts in temperate and tropical regions of Australia and New Zealand The migration of the subspecies Limosa lapponica baueri across the Pacific Ocean from Alaska to New Zealand is the longest known non stop flight of any bird and also the longest journey without pausing to feed by any animal The round trip migration for this subspecies is over 29 000 km 18 020 mi 2 Bar tailed godwitBreeding plumageNon breeding plumageConservation statusNear Threatened IUCN 3 1 1 Scientific classificationDomain EukaryotaKingdom AnimaliaPhylum ChordataClass AvesOrder CharadriiformesFamily ScolopacidaeGenus LimosaSpecies L lapponicaBinomial nameLimosa lapponica Linnaeus 1758 SynonymsScolopax lapponica Linnaeus 1758 Contents 1 Taxonomy 2 Description 3 Distribution and migration 4 Behaviour and ecology 4 1 Breeding 4 2 Food and feeding 5 Status 6 Gallery 7 References 7 1 Identification 8 External linksTaxonomy EditThe bar tailed godwit was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Scolopax limosa 3 It is now placed with three other godwits in the genus Limosa that was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 4 5 The genus name Limosa is from Latin and means muddy from limus mud referring to its preferred habitat The specific namelapponica refers to Lapland 6 7 The English term godwit was first recorded in about 1416 17 and may be an imitation of the bird s call or be derived from the Old English god whit meaning good creature perhaps referring to its eating qualities 8 7 Its English name is taken from the black and white barred tail and upper tail coverts in this species 7 In French it is known as barge rousse Russian maliy veretennik Inuit chiuchiuchiak Yup ik tevatevaaq and Maori kuaka 7 9 Four subspecies are recognised 5 L l lapponica Linnaeus 1758 breeds from northern Scandinavia east to the Yamal Peninsula winters western coasts of Europe and Africa from the British Isles and the Netherlands south to South Africa and also around the Persian Gulf Smallest subspecies males up to 360 g 13 oz females to 450 g 16 oz L l taymyrensis Engelmoer amp Roselaar 1998 breeds in central Siberia from the Yamal Peninsula east to the Anabar River delta 10 winters in southwest Asia and coasts of Africa to South Africa L l menzbieri Portenko 1936 breeds northeastern Asia from the Anabar River east to the Kolyma River delta winters in southeast Asia and northwest Australia L l baueri Naumann 1836 breeds in northeast Siberia to north and west Alaska winters in China and Australasia Largest subspecies includes anadyrensis 11 Description Edit In flight showing tail barring source source Limosa lapponica FinlandThe bar tailed godwit is a relatively short legged species of godwit The bill to tail length is 37 41 cm 15 16 in with a wingspan of 70 80 cm 28 31 in Males average smaller than females but with much overlap males weigh 190 400 g 6 7 14 1 oz while females weigh 260 630 g 9 2 22 2 oz there is also some regional variation in size see subspecies below The adult has blue grey legs and a long tapering slightly upturned bi colored bill pink at the base and black towards the tip The neck breast and belly are unbroken brick red in breeding plumage and dark brown above 12 13 Females breeding plumage is much duller than males with a chestnut to cinnamon belly 7 Breeding plumage is not fully apparent until the third year and there are three distinguishable age classes during their first migration north immature males are noticeably paler in colour than more mature males 14 Non breeding birds seen in the Southern Hemisphere are plain grey brown with darker feather centres giving them a striped look and are whitish underneath Juveniles are similar to non breeding adults but more buff overall with streaked plumages on flanks and breast 7 Alaska breeding bar tailed godwits show an increase in body size from north to south but this trend is not apparent in their non breeding grounds in New Zealand birds of different sizes mix freely 15 Limosa lapponica is distinguished from the black tailed godwit Limosa limosa by its black and white horizontally barred rather than wholly black tail and lack of white wing bars The most similar species is the Asiatic dowitcher Limnodromus semipalmatus Distribution and migration Edit Banding L l baueri at Miranda Shorebird Centre New ZealandAll bar tailed godwits spend the Northern Hemisphere summer in the Arctic where they breed and make a long distance migration south in winter to more temperate areas L l lapponica make the shortest migration some only as far as the North Sea while others travel as far as India 7 Bar tailed godwits nesting in Alaska L l baueri travel all the way to Australia and New Zealand They undertake the longest non stop migrations of any bird and to fuel they carry the greatest fat loads of any migratory bird so far studied reducing the size of their digestive organs to do so 7 2 L l bauri breeds in Alaska and spends the non breeding season in eastern Australia and New Zealand L l menzbieri breeds in Siberia and migrates to northern and western Australia 16 Birds breeding in Siberia follow the coast of Asia northwards and southwards but those breeding in Alaska migrate directly across the Pacific to Australasia 11 000 km 6 835 mi away 16 To track the return journey seven birds in New Zealand were tagged with surgically implanted transmitters and tracked by satellite to the Yellow Sea in China a distance of 9 575 km 5 950 mi the actual track flown by one bird was 11 026 km 6 851 mi taking nine days At least three other bar tailed godwits also appear to have reached the Yellow Sea after non stop flights from New Zealand Routes of satellite tagged bar tailed godwits migrating north from New Zealand to Korea and ChinaOne specific female of the flock nicknamed E7 flew onward from China to Alaska and stayed there for the breeding season Then in August 2007 she departed on an eight day non stop flight from western Alaska to the Piako River near Thames New Zealand setting a new known flight record of 11 680 km 7 258 mi This L l bauri female made a 174 day round trip journey of 29 280 km 18 194 mi with 20 days of flying 17 In 2021 a male bar tailed godwit 4BBRW set a new record for non stop migratory flight with an 8 100 mile approximately 13035km flight from Alaska USA to New South Wales Australia The same individual held a previous record in 2020 18 In 2022 a godwit numbered 234684 left Alaska on 13 October and flew non stop to Tasmania the first time a tagged bird has flown this route It flew a minimum of 13 560 km 8 430 mi in 11 days 1 hour a record non stop distance 19 To fuel such long journeys L l baueri birds in New Zealand deposit much more fat for their body size than other subspecies allowing them to fly 6 000 km 3 728 mi to 8 600 km 5 344 mi 20 Both Australasian subspecies head north to their breeding grounds along the coast of Asia to the Yalu Jiang coastal wetland in the north Yellow Sea the most important staging grounds for godwits and great knots Calidris tenuirostris in their northern migration 21 Baueri birds rested for about 41 days before continuing approximately 7 000 km 4 350 mi on to Alaska Menzbieri spent on average 38 days in the Yellow Sea region and flew an additional 4 100 km 2 548 mi to high Arctic Russia 17 Birds will often depart early from New Zealand if there are favourable winds they seem to be able to predict weather patterns that will assist them on the entire migration route 22 Birds that had nested in southern Alaska were larger and departed New Zealand earliest this pattern was repeated six months later with birds departing Alaska in the same order they arrived and over the same span of days 23 Birds in southern New Zealand departed on average 9 11 days earlier than birds in more northern sites 24 Godwits arrive at the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta in Alaska in two waves local breeders in early May and larger flocks in the third week of May en route to breeding grounds further north 25 Distribution of the five subspecies of Limosa lapponica showing Northern Hemisphere summer breeding grounds red non breeding overwintering areas blue and migration routes in each directionBehaviour and ecology EditBreeding Edit The bar tailed godwit is a non breeding migrant in Australia and New Zealand Birds first depart for their northern hemisphere breeding sites at age 2 4 24 Breeding take place each year in Scandinavia northern Asia and Alaska The nest is a shallow cup in moss sometimes lined with vegetation Clutch size is from 2 to 5 averaging four 7 Both sexes share incubation of the eggs for 20 to 21 days the female during the day and the male at night 7 Food and feeding Edit source source source source source source source source source source Limosa lapponica in winter plumage on Netherlands mudflatsThe birds main source of food in wetlands is bristle worms up to 70 supplemented by small bivalves and crustaceans In wet pastures bar tailed godwits eat invertebrates 26 In a major staging site in the northern Yellow Sea they continue to hunt polychaetes but most of their food intake is the bivalve mollusc Potamocorbula laevis which they generally swallow whole 27 Male bar tailed godwits are smaller than females and have shorter bills In a study at the Manawatu Estuary shorter billed birds males fed mostly on small surface prey like Potamopyrgus snails half being snail specialists whereas females consumed more deeply buried prey such as worms the birds also displayed some individual food preferences 28 Status EditThe status of the bar tailed godwit is Near Threatened and the population is declining 1 Fewer birds have been using East African estuaries since 1979 and there has been a steady decline in numbers around the Kola Peninsula Siberia since 1930 7 The global population is estimated to number 1 099 000 1 149 000 individuals 1 Both L l bauri and L l menzbieri adult survival rates decreased between 2005 and 2012 probably because of the loss of intertidal staging areas in the Yellow Sea 29 The construction of seawalls and the reclamation of mudflats have led to a critical reduction in food supplies for migrating birds particularly subspecies like L l menzbieri that rely on the Yalu Jiang estuary on both their northward and southward migrations 30 Numbers of L l baueri have declined in New Zealand from over 100 000 in the late 1980s to 67 500 in 2018 31 The bar tailed godwit is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds AEWA applies 32 In New Zealand the species is protected under the 1953 Wildlife Act 26 33 Gallery Edit Egg L l baueri in Tasmania Australia note the barring on the tail Breeding plumage Dorset In flight Dorset L l lapponica SpainReferences Edit a b c BirdLife International 2017 Limosa lapponica IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017 e T22693158A111221714 doi 10 2305 IUCN UK 2017 1 RLTS T22693158A111221714 en Retrieved 19 November 2021 a b Gill R E Tibbitts T L Douglas D C Handel C M Mulcahy D M Gottschalck J C Warnock N McCaffery B J Battley P F Piersma T 2009 Extreme endurance flights by landbirds crossing the Pacific Ocean ecological corridor rather than barrier Proceedings of the Royal Society B 276 1656 447 457 doi 10 1098 rspb 2008 1142 PMC 2664343 PMID 18974033 Linnaeus Carl 1758 Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae secundum classes ordines genera species cum characteribus differentiis synonymis locis in Latin Vol 1 10th ed Holmiae Stockholm Laurentii Salvii p 147 Brisson Mathurin Jacques 1760 Ornithologie ou Methode Contenant la Divisio Oiseaux en Ordres Sections Genres Especes amp leurs Varietes in French and Latin Paris Jean Baptiste Bauche Vol 1 p 48 Vol 5 p 261 a b Gill Frank Donsker David Rasmussen Pamela eds July 2021 Sandpipers snipes coursers IOC World Bird List Version 11 2 International Ornithologists Union Retrieved 20 November 2021 Jobling James A 2010 The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names London Christopher Helm pp 219 227 ISBN 978 1 4081 2501 4 a b c d e f g h i j k McCaffery B Gill R 2001 Bar Tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica In Poole A Gill F eds Birds of North America Vol 581 Philadelphia PA The Birds of North America Inc Godwit Oxford English Dictionary Online ed Oxford University Press Subscription or participating institution membership required Stap Don 15 October 2009 Flight of the Kuaka A Godwit Makes the Longest Nonstop Flight Ever Recorded Living Bird 28 34 Engelmoer M Roselaar C 1998 Geographical variation in waders Dordrecht The Netherlands Kluwer Academic Publishers Dickinson E C Remsen J V Jr eds 2013 The Howard amp Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World Volume 1 Non passerines 4th ed Eastbourne UK Aves Press p 210 Note 9 ISBN 978 0 9568611 0 8 del Hoyo J Elliot A Sargatal J eds 1996 Handbook of the Birds of the World Vol 3 Barcelona Lynx Edicions ISBN 84 87334 15 6 Snow D W Perrins C M 1998 The Birds of the Western Palearctic Concise ed Oxford University Press ISBN 0 19 854099 X Battley Phil F 2007 Plumage and Timing of Migration in Bar Tailed Godwits A Comment on Drent Et al 2003 PDF Oikos 116 2 349 352 doi 10 1111 j 0030 1299 2007 15474 x ISSN 0030 1299 JSTOR 40235067 Conklin Jesse R Battley Phil F Potter Murray A Ruthrauff Dan R 2011 Geographic Variation in Morphology of Alaska Breeding Bar Tailed Godwits Limosa lapponica is Not Maintained on their Nonbreeding Grounds in New Zealand The Auk 128 2 363 373 doi 10 1525 auk 2011 10231 hdl 11370 a93cf946 9d63 414c 93a4 99c1d3ce6589 S2CID 84073551 a b Gill Robert E Jr Piersma Theunis Hufford Gary Servranckx R Riegen Adrian C 2005 Crossing the ultimate ecological barrier Evidence for an 11 000 km long non stop flight from Alaska to New Zealand and Eastern Australia by Bar tailed Godwits The Condor 107 1 120 doi 10 1093 condor 107 1 1 a b Battley Phil F Warnock Nils Tibbitts T Lee Gill Robert E Piersma Theunis Hassell Chris J Douglas David C Mulcahy Daniel M Gartrell Brett D Schuckard Rob Melville David S 2012 Contrasting extreme long distance migration patterns in bar tailed godwits Limosa lapponica PDF Journal of Avian Biology 43 1 21 32 doi 10 1111 j 1600 048X 2011 05473 x hdl 11370 7766cc5c 614d 49bb afe2 65d439997d5e ISSN 1600 048X Leffer Lauren 8 October 2021 These Mighty Shorebirds Keep Breaking Flight Records and You Can Follow Along audubon org Audubon Magazine Retrieved October 21 2021 Young godwit sets new flight record BirdGuides com 25 October 2022 Retrieved 25 October 2022 Battley Phil F Piersma Theunis 2005 Body Composition and Flight Ranges of Bar Tailed Godwits Limosa lapponica baueri from New Zealand The Auk 122 3 922 937 doi 10 1093 auk 122 3 922 ISSN 0004 8038 JSTOR 4090597 Choi Chi Yeung Battley Phil F Potter Murray A Rogers Ken G Ma Zhijun 2015 The importance of Yalu Jiang coastal wetland in the north Yellow Sea to Bar tailed Godwits Limosa lapponica and Great Knots Calidris tenuirostris during northward migration Bird Conservation International 25 1 53 70 doi 10 1017 S0959270914000124 ISSN 0959 2709 Conklin Jesse R Battley Phil F 2011 Impacts of wind on individual migration schedules of New Zealand bar tailed godwits Behavioral Ecology 22 4 854 861 doi 10 1093 beheco arr054 Conklin Jesse R Battley Phil F Potter Murray A Fox James W 2010 Breeding latitude drives individual schedules in a trans hemispheric migrant bird Nature Communications 1 1 67 Bibcode 2010NatCo 1 67C doi 10 1038 ncomms1072 PMID 20842198 a b Battley Phil F Conklin Jesse R Parody Merino Angela M Langlands Peter A Southey Ian Burns Thomas Melville David S Schuckard Rob Riegen Adrian C Potter Murray A 2020 Interacting Roles of Breeding Geography and Early Life Settlement in Godwit Migration Timing Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 8 52 doi 10 3389 fevo 2020 00052 ISSN 2296 701X McCaffery B J amp Gill Jr Robert amp Jr amp Melville David amp Riegen A amp Tomkovich Pavel amp Dementyev M amp Sexson M amp Schuckard Rob amp Lovibond S 2010 Variation in timing behaviours and plumage of spring migrant Bar tailed Godwits on the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta Alaska Wader Study Group Bulletin 117 3 179 185 a b Woodley K 2013 Miskelly C M ed Bar tailed godwit nzbirdsonline org nz Retrieved 2020 03 18 Choi Chi Yeung Battley Phil F Potter Murray A Ma Zhijun Melville David S Sukkaewmanee Parinya 2017 How migratory shorebirds selectively exploit prey at a staging site dominated by a single prey species The Auk 134 1 76 91 doi 10 1642 AUK 16 58 1 ISSN 0004 8038 Ross Tobias Alexander 2018 The roles of morphology individuality and arrival from migration in the foraging ecology of bar tailed godwits at the Manawatu River estuary MSc thesis Massey University Conklin Jesse R Lok Tamar Melville David S Riegen Adrian C Schuckard Rob Piersma Theunis Battley Phil F 2016 Declining adult survival of New Zealand Bar tailed Godwits during 2005 2012 despite apparent population stability PDF Emu Austral Ornithology 116 2 147 157 doi 10 1071 MU15058 ISSN 0158 4197 S2CID 86374453 Choi Chi Yeung 2015 The Northward migration stopover ecology of Bar tailed Godwits and Great Knots in the Yalu Jiang Estuary National Nature Reserve China PhD thesis Massey University Blundell Sally 8 November 2019 The search for the missing bar tailed godwit NZ Listener Archived from the original on 9 February 2020 Retrieved 2020 03 19 Species list AEWA Protected species www doc govt nz Retrieved 2020 03 18 Identification Edit Vinicombe Keith 1 January 2010 Black tailed and Bar tailed Godwits Birdwatch Archived from the original on 30 November 2016 Retrieved 24 April 2011 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Limosa lapponica Wikispecies has information related to Limosa lapponica Bar tailed godwit species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds BirdLife species factsheet for Limosa lapponica Limosa lapponica Avibase Bar tailed godwit media Internet Bird Collection Bar tailed godwit photo gallery at VIREO Drexel University Interactive range map of Limosa lapponica at IUCN Red List maps Audio recordings of Bar tailed godwit on Xeno canto Limosa lapponica in Field Guide Birds of the World on Flickr Bar tailed godwit media from ARKive The kuaka discussed on RNZ Critter of the Week 21 Feb 2020 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Bar tailed godwit amp oldid 1119536379, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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