Bar-tailed Godwit
Limosa lapponica
Where is it found?
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Wetlands, estuaries and coastlines
Diet and foraging method
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Probes for food in mudflats and marshes.
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Key adaptations
The Bar-tailed Godwit has a slender beak for probing in mud for prey. On their long migration flight, over half of their body weight is made up of fat, which requires them to absorb some of their own body tissue and shrink their gut to make room!
Social organisation and mating system
In winter, Godwits form large flocks
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In the breeding season, Godwits form monogamous pairs.
Did you know that...?
The Bar-tailed Godwit undertakes the longest non-stop migration of any bird, and the longest journey without stopping for food. Some populations fly up to 12,000km without stopping!
Taxonomy
Picture credits:
Maps from: http://species.mol.org/species/
"Bar-tailed Godwit" by Andreas Trepte - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bar-tailed_Godwit.jpg#/media/File:Bar-tailed_Godwit.jpg
"Limosa lapponica 3" by Matthias Barby - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Limosa_lapponica_3.JPG#/media/File:Limosa_lapponica_3.JPG
"Limosa lapponica MHNT" by Didier Descouens - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Limosa_lapponica_MHNT.jpg#/media/File:Limosa_lapponica_MHNT.jpg
"Limosa limosa" by Johann Friedrich Naumann - Naturgeschichte der Vögel Mitteleuropas 1905, or earlier works.. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Limosa_limosa.jpg#/media/File:Limosa_limosa.jpg
"Bar-tailed Godwit" by Andreas Trepte - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bar-tailed_Godwit.jpg#/media/File:Bar-tailed_Godwit.jpg
"Limosa lapponica 3" by Matthias Barby - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Limosa_lapponica_3.JPG#/media/File:Limosa_lapponica_3.JPG
"Limosa lapponica MHNT" by Didier Descouens - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Limosa_lapponica_MHNT.jpg#/media/File:Limosa_lapponica_MHNT.jpg
"Limosa limosa" by Johann Friedrich Naumann - Naturgeschichte der Vögel Mitteleuropas 1905, or earlier works.. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Limosa_limosa.jpg#/media/File:Limosa_limosa.jpg
