Wednesday, 15 February 2012
Black-tailed Godwit
Scientific Name:
Limosa limosa
Length:
42cm
Wingspan (mm):
76cm
Lifespan:
18yrs Description
In summer, this large wading bird has a bright orangey-brown chest and belly, but in winter the plumage more greyish-brown. Their most distinctive features are their long beaks and legs, and the black and white stripes on their wings. Female black-tailed godwits are bigger and heavier than the males, with a noticeably longer beak (which helps the sexes to avoid competing for food with each other). They’re very similar to bar-tailed godwits, which breed in the Arctic. Black-taileds have longer legs, and bar-taileds don’t have striped wings. As the names suggest, the tail patterns are different, too.
Diet
Insects, worms and snails, but also some plants, beetles, grasshoppers and other small insects during the breeding season.
Status
Red
Did You Know?
This species is specially protected by Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended). This legislation protects Black-tailed Godwit from nest destruction, killing or injuring but also disturbance while breeding. In 2004, scientists at the University of East Anglia revealed that black-tailed godwits were monogamous, they spend their winters about 600 miles apart, but meet to breed with the same partner each year. Relationships can last many years. Despite the distance, the pairs manage to rendezvous in Iceland each April or May, arriving within three days of each other. The few pairs in the study who failed to synchronise their arrival didn't mate, and the females found themselves another partner instead.