Bar-tailed Godwit
Limosa lapponica
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Cordats)
- ClassAves (Aus)
- OrderCharadriiformes (Caradriformes)
- FamilyScolopacidae (Sandpipers and Allies)
- GenusLimosa (Godwits)
- SpeciesLimosa lapponica (Bar-tailed Godwit)
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). Wikipedia →
Closest Relatives at Booderee National Park
Ruddy Turnstone
Arenaria interpres
Red-necked Stint
Calidris ruficollis
Sanderling
Calidris alba
Silver Gull
Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae
Masked Lapwing
Vanellus miles
Hooded Plover
Thinornis cucullatus
Crested Tern
Thalasseus bergii
Sooty Oystercatcher
Haematopus fuliginosus
Pied Oystercatcher
Haematopus longirostris
Black-bellied Plover
Pluvialis squatarola
Painted Buttonquail
Turnix varius
Little Tern
Sternula albifrons
📅 Monthly Probability
Fewer than 5 records of Bar-tailed Godwit at Booderee National Park — not enough to chart months honestly.
☀️ When They're Spotted
Most active during daytime hours (6am–6pm) · across all parks (global)
Global Distribution
Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.
where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there