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  • Black-tailed godwit
A swift in flight against a clear sky blue background

Discover the incredible story of bird migration

Read more here

Black-tailed godwit

Black-tailed godwit (summer plumage)
Black-tailed godwit (summer plumage)
Black-tailed godwit (winter plumage)
Black-tailed godwit (winter plumage)
  • Scientific name: Limosa limosa
  • Bird family: Sandpipers, snipes and phalaropes
  • UK conservation status: Red
  • Protected by The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981

Audio

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Patrik Åberg, Xeno-canto

Key information

These large wading birds are a Schedule 1 species. In summer, they have bright orangey-brown chests and bellies, but in winter they're more greyish-brown.

Their most distinctive features are their long beaks and legs, and the black and white stripes on their wings. Female black-tailed godwits are bigger and heavier than the males, with a noticeably longer beak (which helps the sexes to avoid competing for food with each other).

They're very similar to bar-tailed godwits, which breed in the Arctic. Black-tailed godwits have longer legs, and bar-tailed godwits don't have striped wings. As the names suggest, the tail patterns are different, too.

What they eat:

Insects, worms and snails, but also some plants, beetles, grasshoppers and other small insects during the breeding season.

Measurements:

Length:
40-44 cm
Wingspan:
70-82 cm
Weight:
280-340g

Population:

UK breeding is the number of pairs breeding annually. UK wintering is the number of individuals present from October to March. UK passage is the number of individuals passing through on migration in spring and/or autumn.
UK breeding:
50 pairs of the limosa 'Eurasian' subspecies, and 7-9 pairs of the islandica subspecies
UK wintering:
44,000 birds from the Icelandic population
UK passage:
12,400 birds
Europe:
99-140,000 pairs

Identifying features:

This bird species has different identifying features depending on sex/age/season.

Black-tailed godwit (summer plumage)

Black-tailed godwit in breeding plumage
Feather colour: Black Brown Cream/buff Grey Orange White
Leg colour: Brown
Beak: Black Red Long Thin
Natural habitats: Grassland Marine and intertidal Wetland

Black-tailed godwit (winter plumage)

Black-tailed godwit in winter plumage
Feather colour: Black Brown Cream/buff Grey White
Leg colour: Brown
Beak: Black Red Long Thin
Natural habitats: Grassland Marine and intertidal Wetland

Similar birds:

The two godwit species that occur in the UK - black-tailed and bar-tailed - can be quite tricky to identify. Though their feathers are constantly changing, birds' body shapes stay the same. Instead of concentrating on what colour a bird is, it's good to look at its other structural features.

Black-tailed godwits have longer legs than the bar-tailed. Sometimes it's hard to see that when they're wading, though! While both godwits have really long bills, the black-tailed's is often longer and a little bit straighter. Bar-tailed godwits' bills are noticeably upcurved.

When in orangey breeding plumage, a black-tailed godwit's belly has black stripes - a bar-tailed's is plain. In its grey-brown, non-breeding plumage, a black-tailed godwit has plain back feathers. At all times of year, a bar-tailed godwit has a streaky back. 

If you see a godwit flying, it's easy to identify it. Black-tailed godwits have a bold black and white stripe on each wing, as well as a black and white tail.

Bar-tailed godwit, summer plumage
Bar-tailed godwit

Where and when to see them

Estuaries and coastal lagoons are the best places to look for black-tailed godwits at almost any time of year, though they also visit wetland sites inland. We also have a small, vulnerable breeding population, on a select few wet meadows and marshes. They migrate to west Africa for winter. Birds from Iceland spend winter in the UK.

* This map is intended as a guide. It shows general distribution rather than detailed, localised populations.
  • Resident
  • Passage
  • Summer
  • Winter
Black-tailed godwit distribution map

It's easiest to see black-tailed godwits from late summer through winter.

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RSPB reserves

  • RSPB Dee Estuary - Burton Mere Wetlands
  • RSPB Nene Washes
  • RSPB Belfast's Window on Wildlife
  • RSPB Bowling Green and Goosemoor
  • RSPB Pagham Harbour Local Nature Reserve
  • RSPB The Loons and Loch of Banks
  • RSPB Vange Marsh
  • RSPB Stanford Wharf
  • RSPB Stour Estuary
  • RSPB Dee Estuary - Point of Ayr
  • RSPB Freiston Shore
  • RSPB Wallasea Island
  • RSPB Lytchett Fields
  • RSPB Ouse Washes
  • RSPB Marshside
  • RSPB Langstone Harbour
  • RSPB Conwy

Video

Watch black-tailed godwits in their natural habitat.

Watch black-tailed godwits in their natural habitat.

Black-tailed godwit video screenshot

Don't let threatened birds fade away

Will you help us to save our threatened birds? The number of birds at severe risk in the UK has nearly doubled. Our birds are struggling to find safe places to nest and enough food to feed their young. They urgently need our help. Find out about the RSPB’s work to save our threatened birds, and discover simple ways you can help them to thrive. Together, we can save our birds.

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