Bar-tailed Godwit
Photo: Andreas Trepte · CC BY-SA 2.5

Sandpipers and Allies

Bar-tailed Godwit

Limosa lapponica

NTNear Threatened
Family
Sandpipers and Allies (Scolopacidae)
Order
Charadriiformes

Overview

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.

Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Where to see it

Destination guides featuring this bird

Range and habitat

Sources and further reading

Last updated September 29, 2026.