Bar-Tailed Godwit : Spotted
Five bar-tailed godwits were spotted by a naturalist at Pulicat lake recently.
- Bar-Tailed Godwit is a migratory shorebird renowned for its extraordinary endurance during migration.
- Scientific Name: Limosa lapponica
- The bar-tailed godwit species is distributed in northern Europe and Asia, western Alaska, Africa, the Persian Gulf, India, southeast Asia, China and Australia.
- These godwit species breed in the Arctic region.
- In India, wintering bar-tailed godwit species are distributed in the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Tripura, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
- Bar-tailed Godwits are the world record holders for non-stop flight.
- They have been recorded travelling 13,500 km from Alaska to Tasmania in only 11 days flying at an average of more than 50 km/h, losing almost half of their body weight along the way.
- They are quite large waders, with females being bigger than males.
- It is mainly mottled brown above and lighter and more uniform buff below.
- IUCN Red List: Near Threatened
