Get Post-breeding Migration Of Dutch-breeding Black-tailed Godwits ... - Altwym

migration, Black-tailed Godwits first touch European ground in Portugal or Spain. The initial wave of godwits arrives back at the end of December or early January. Godwits fly further inland to the rice fields in Extrema- dura usually after a short stopover on the west coast of Spain.

Fun Facts for Kids The English term "godwit" was first recorded in about 1416 and is believed to imitate the bird's call. In 2007 the Bar-tailed godwit has made the longest non-stop flight of any bird. Birds in New Zealand were tagged and tracked by satellite to the Yellow Sea in China.

The dominant threat to the Bar-tailed Godwit (Western Alaskan subspecies) in NSW is loss and/or degradation of high tide roosting habitat and feeding habitat which affects the ability of the birds to build up the energy stores required for successful migration and breeding.

Their feathers are very sleek so that the wind can pass over as smoothly as possible. Massey University's Dr Phil Battley describes godwits in flight including flapping ability, speed, flying altitudes, streamlining, time taken for non-stop flight and V-formation flight.

The bird has a long neck with a very long upturned bill. The bill is characterized by a dark tip and pinkish base. The Bar-tailed Godwit is slightly larger and stockier than the Black-tailed Godwit, Limosa limosa, with a shorter neck and legs, steeper forehead, and a more upturned and pointed bill.

Using these tactics, godwits can fly 55 miles an hour for 11 days straight without stopping, crossing nearly 8,000 miles of unbroken ocean from Alaska to New Zealand. They'll stay there for 6 months, replenishing fat reserves till fall arrives.

The godwit breeds from Iceland all the way through Europe and Siberia to parts of central Asia. It has a diverse migration pattern spanning the Indian Subcontinent, Australia, West Africa and parts of Western Europe.

The globe-trotting birds are in search of an endless summer, and some 90,000 or so depart Alaska from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and environs, where they breed and raise their young. Both Alaska and New Zealand are rich in foods that godwits like, especially the insects in Alaska for newly hatched chicks.