The Black-tailed Godwit is a large wader and member of the Tringinae family. The species has a length of 40–44 cm, a wingspan of 63–75 cm and a weight of 200–300 g. The species is described as being large and graceful with a rather small head, long neck, very long straight or slightly curved bill and very long legs. The species is slightly smaller than the Bar-tailed Godwit, Limosa lapponica, with a straighter and slightly blunter bill, longer neck, shallower forehead, slimmer body and longer legs. Females have a slightly larger and longer bill, but a duller breeding plumage as compared to males. They occur singly or in small to large groups, numbering hundreds at favoured roosting sites. They associate with other waders; often at edges of flocks of other species of Godwit and, in New Zealand, sometimes with Black-winged Stilts, Himantopus himantopus (Higgins & Davies 1996). They feed in sea-edge flocks (Rogers 1999b).
Black-tailed Godwit |
Limosa limosa
Government evidence of impact of climate change:
Expand all
Close all
Close all
-
IUCN Red List Assessment, Limosa limosa
Detrimental activities include the conversion of wet meadows to arable land and loss of habitat to development (Tucker and Heath 1994); increased fertilisation and drainage of grassland (Roodbergen and Teunissen 2014); earlier and more frequent cutting as farmers adapt to climate change (Kleijn et al. 2010); spring burning and scrub encroachment (A.
Drought in the West African wintering quarters may have had negative impacts on the mainland European population (Tucker and Heath 1994) in conjunction with the extensive drainage of wetlands in this area; for energy production; water storage and agriculture (Gill et al. 2007).