Bar-tailed godwit

Latin Limosa lapponica
Estonian Vöötsaba-vigle

Also known as: barred-rumped godwit, Pacific Ocean godwit, Southern godwit, small godwit

Status in Estonia

Migratory bird.

Description

This bird is the same size as the black-tailed godwit but with slightly shorter legs and a shorter, frequently upturned bill. The tail is striped and a sharp wedge runs from the white preen gland area to the back. The wings do not have any stripes. During flight, the toes extend only slightly beyond the tip of the tail. In the summer, the male bird is entirely brick red while the female bird has a lighter underside, mostly without red-brown, a striped breast and a black beak that changes to a lighter colour towards the base. In winter, the top half of the adult bird is light brownish-grey with black feathers that give it a striped look, the lower half is dirty white with no creamy tone, the side breast is faintly striped and the beak is pink with a dark tip. The juvenile bird resembles a wintering adult bird, but the top half is darker, with cream patches on the edge of shoulder feathers and tertials, the breast is fully streaked and the front of the neck and breast have a creamy shade.

Size

Body length 33–41 cm (incl. beak 7–11 cm), wingspan 78–88 cm, body mass 190–400 g.

Similar species

Black-tailed godwit, Eurasian curlew, Eurasian whimbrel.

Distribution

It breeds in Eurasia’s Arctic tundra and the Alaskan tundra and spends the winter in Western Europe and West Africa. It is an uncommon migratory bird in Estonia.

Population

It does not breed in Estonia and is an uncommon migrant.

Occurrence in Estonia

It can be seen during migration from April to May and July to September.

Diet

It eats insects, crustaceans and aquatic plants.

Habitat

It breeds in the tundra and the northernmost raised bogs of the taiga zone. It stops on the coast during migration.

Nesting

During the courtship ritual, the male soars high around the nesting location and makes loud vocalisations. A nest is a hollow lined with plants and moss, usually located above the ground. The female bird lays 2–4 eggs in May to June and both adults incubate them for 20–21 days. After hatching, the adults take the chicks to wetlands to hunt for themselves. Parents protect and care for them until they are able to fly, which normally happens when they’re around one month old.

Conservation status and protection

It belongs to the protected species of category III. Small predators and birds of prey are main threats.

Distribution and population in Lääne County.

The bar-tailed godwit is an uncommon migratory bird along the coast of Lääne County. Bar-tailed godwits, like many other waders, gather on beaches with open mudflats or loads of seaweed. In Matsalu, the migrating bar-tailed godwit is most commonly found in Põgari and Cape Puise. In addition, they are frequently spotted on the west coast of Osmussaare, Cape Austergrünne in Vormsi and Riguldi Beach.
The largest migratory flocks can be seen in late spring, between mid-April and early June. Birds on autumn migration can be spotted in larger numbers between the end of July and the middle of October.