Black-tailed Godwit
Limosa limosa
Gregarious medium-sized wader with a long, slightly uptilted bill. Note the very long, pink-based bill. Breeding plumage has bright rusty head and breast, dark barring on belly; nonbreeding plumage has rather plain grayish head, breast, and upperparts, unlike streaked breast and back of Bar-tailed Godwit. In flight shows bold white wing stripe, white rump, and black tail. Fairly common but often local; breeds in grassy wetlands, and found year-round in fresh and brackish marshes, and on adjacent tidal flats. Feeds mainly by wading in deep water, probing with its long bill.
Identification
The black-tailed godwit is a large wader with long bill (7.5 to 12 cm (3.0 to 4.7 in) long), neck and legs. During the breeding season, the bill has a yellowish or orange-pink base and dark tip; the base is pink in winter. The legs are dark grey, brown or black. The sexes are similar, but in breeding plumage, they can be separated by the male's brighter, more extensive orange breast, neck and head. In winter, adult black-tailed godwits have a uniform brown-grey breast and upperparts (in contrast to the bar-tailed godwit's streaked back). Juveniles have a pale orange wash to the neck and breast.<p>In flight, its bold black and white wings and white rump can be seen readily. When on the ground it can be difficult to separate from the similar bar-tailed Godwit, but the black-tailed godwit's longer, straighter bill and longer legs are diagnostic. Black-tailed godwits are similar in body size and shape to bar-taileds, but stand taller.<p>It measures 42 cm (17 in) from bill to tail with a wingspan of 70–82 cm (28–32 in). Males weight around 280 g (9.9 oz) and females 340 g (12 oz). The female is around 5% larger than the male, with a bill 12–15% longer.<p>The most common call is a strident weeka weeka weeka.<p>A study of black-tailed godwits in the Netherlands found a mortality rate of 37.6% in the first year of life, 32% in the second year, and 36.9% thereafter.
Taxonomy
The black-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. It is now placed with three other godwits in the genus Limosa that was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. The name Limosa is from Latin and means "muddy", from limus, "mud". The English name "godwit" was first recorded in about 1416–17 and is believed to imitate the bird's call.<p>Four subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Limosa limosa
- Authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Scolopacidae
- Genus
- Limosa
Range and habitat
Black-tailed godwits have a discontinuous breeding range stretching from Iceland to the far east of Russia. Their breeding habitat is river valley fens, floods at the edges of large lakes, damp steppes, raised bogs and moorlands. An important proportion of the European population now uses secondary habitats: lowland wet grasslands, coastal grazing marshes, pastures, wet areas near fishponds or sewage works, and saline lagoons. Breeding can also take place in sugar beet, potato and rye fields in the Netherlands and Germany.<p>In spring, black-tailed godwits feed largely in grasslands, moving to muddy estuaries after breeding and for winter. On African wintering grounds, swamps, floods and irrigated paddy fields can attract flocks of birds. In India, inland pools, lakes and marshes are used, and occasionally brackish lakes, tidal creeks and estuaries.<p>Godwits from the Icelandic population winter mainly in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France and the Netherlands, though some fly on to Spain, Portugal and perhaps Morocco. Birds of the limosa subspecies from western Europe fly south to Morocco and then on to Senegal and Guinea-Bissau. Birds from the eastern European populations migrate to Tunisia and Algeria, then on to Mali or Chad. Young birds from the European populations stay on in Africa after their first winter and return to Europe at the age of two years. Asian black-tailed godwits winter in Australia, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea.<p>Black-tailed godwits are much more likely to be found on inland wetlands than the more coastal bar-tailed godwit. They migrate in flocks to western Europe, Africa, south Asia and Australia. Although this species occurs in Ireland and Great Britain all year-round, they are not the same birds. The breeding birds depart in autumn, but are replaced in winter by the larger Icelandic race. These birds occasionally appear in the Aleutian Islands and, rarely, on the Atlantic coast of North America.
- Breeding range
- PAL : widespread in subarctic and temperate wet grassland: Iceland, Faroe Is., British Is., Scandinavia s to sw France, e through nw Russia, n Kazakhstan, n Mongolia e to Chukotskiy Pen., Kamchatka, Sakhalin and Amurland (e Russia) and Inner Mongolia (ne China)
- Non-breeding range
- AF, OR, AU : coastal and inland temperate to tropical wetlands: s British Is., s Europe, Macaronesia (nw of n Africa; scarce), Africa (except s), Middle East, s, se Asia, Indonesian Arch., s New Guinea, Australia; Ryukyu Is. (=Nansei Shoto, s Japan), Taiwan, se China and Philippines
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
Migration pattern: Complete migrants.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Fiery-billed Aracari
Pteroglossus frantzii
Aracaris are medium-sized toucans, rather slender and long tailed. Fiery-billed is distinctive: the top half of the bill is bright orange. Also note the red belly band. Most often found in small flocks; favors any sort of forested area including edges and gardens.
Hispaniolan Lizard-Cuckoo
Coccyzus longirostris
An impressive long-tailed species of wooded habitats including shade coffee plantations. Typically found foraging in dense vegetation from understory to canopy; can be found sunning in the open at first light with its tail spread. Note this species long straight narrow bill, brilliant red eyering, gray chest, and buff-orange belly. The Bay-breasted Cuckoo is similarly shaped but is larger with a maroon chest and short curved bill. The Mangrove Cuckoo is smaller with a smaller curved bill and a black mask. Secretive, but not shy, this species is often first detected by its voice: a long, rapid, ratcheting “keh-keh-keh…” Also gives a low “craaa” and a sharp “chek.”
Indian Nuthatch
Sitta castanea
Only nuthatch in most of its range with gray upperparts and brick-red underparts. From crown to upper mantle, the gray is a lighter shade than the remainder of the upperparts. Strong dark eye-stripe starts from the bill, broadening toward the sides of the neck, contrasting with the white throat. Female is similar but has lighter chestnut underparts and dirty white on the throat. In a narrow zone where it overlaps with the very similar Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch, Indian differs in the contrastingly paler crown and nape, the smaller bill, and the lack of white scallops on the vent. Primarily seen in deciduous forests; occurs in pairs or family groups, sometimes along with Velvet-fronted Nuthatches, with which it broadly overlaps in range. Call is a loud, mellow, rapid trill of 7-8 notes: “pi-pi-pi-pi-pi-pi.”
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