About Limosa limosa (Linnaeus, 1758)
The black-tailed godwit, with the scientific name Limosa limosa (Linnaeus, 1758), is a large wader species. It has a long bill measuring 7.5 to 12 cm (3.0 to 4.7 in), a long neck, and long legs. During the breeding season, the bill has a yellowish or orange-pink base and a dark tip; in winter, the base of the bill is pink. Its legs are dark grey, brown, or black. The sexes have similar overall appearance, but in breeding plumage males can be distinguished by their brighter, more extensive orange colouration on the breast, neck, and head. In winter, adult black-tailed godwits have a uniform brown-grey breast and upperparts, which contrasts with the streaked back of the similar bar-tailed godwit. Juveniles have a pale orange tint on the neck and breast. When in flight, the species shows easily visible bold black-and-white wings and a white rump. When on the ground, it can be hard to tell apart from the bar-tailed godwit, but the black-tailed godwit’s longer, straighter bill and longer legs are identifying features. Black-tailed godwits share a similar body size and shape with bar-tailed godwits, but stand taller. The species measures 42 cm (17 in) from bill to tail, with a wingspan of 70–82 cm (28–32 in). Males weigh around 280 g (9.9 oz) and females weigh around 340 g (12 oz). Females are around 5% larger than males, and their bills are 12–15% longer. The most common call of the black-tailed godwit is a strident weeka weeka weeka. A study of black-tailed godwits in the Netherlands found a mortality rate of 37.6% in the first year of life, 32% in the second year, and 36.9% in subsequent years. As of 8 November 2025, the oldest recorded black-tailed godwit is an individual of the Icelandic subspecies L. l. islandica that lived 29 years and 2 months. It was colour ringed as a juvenile on 30 August 1996 on The Wash in Lincolnshire, England, and was subsequently seen 91 times total, including when it was breeding in northern Iceland. Black-tailed godwits have a discontinuous breeding range that stretches from Iceland to the far east of Russia. Their natural breeding habitat includes river valley fens, floodplains at the edges of large lakes, damp steppes, raised bogs, and moorlands. A significant share of the European population now uses secondary habitats: lowland wet grasslands with vegetation reaching up to about 50 cm tall, coastal grazing marshes, pastures, wet areas near fishponds or sewage works, and saline lagoons. Breeding can also occur in sugar beet, potato, and rye fields in the Netherlands and Germany. In spring, black-tailed godwits feed mostly in grasslands, and move to muddy estuaries after breeding and for the winter. On African wintering grounds, flocks of black-tailed godwits are attracted to swamps, floods, and irrigated paddy fields. In India, the species uses inland pools, lakes, and marshes, and occasionally brackish lakes, tidal creeks, and estuaries. Black-tailed godwits from the Icelandic population winter mainly in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, and the Netherlands, though some travel further to Spain, Portugal, and possibly Morocco. Birds of the limosa subspecies from western Europe migrate south to Morocco, then continue on to Senegal and Guinea-Bissau. Birds from eastern European populations migrate to Tunisia and Algeria, then travel on to Mali or Chad. Young birds from European populations remain in Africa after their first winter and return to Europe when they reach two years of age. Asian black-tailed godwits winter in Australia, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. Black-tailed godwits are much more likely to occur on inland wetlands than the more coastal bar-tailed godwit. They migrate in flocks to western Europe, Africa, south Asia, and Australia. While this species can be found in Ireland and Great Britain year-round, the birds present in different seasons are not the same populations. Local breeding birds depart in autumn, and are replaced in winter by the larger Icelandic subspecies. Black-tailed godwits occasionally appear in the Aleutian Islands, and rarely on the Atlantic coast of North America. Black-tailed godwits mainly eat invertebrates, and also consume aquatic plants during winter and migration. In the breeding season, their prey includes beetles, flies, grasshoppers, dragonflies, mayflies, caterpillars, annelid worms, and molluscs. Occasionally, they eat fish eggs, frogspawn, and tadpoles. In water, their most common feeding method is vigorous probing, which can happen up to 36 times per minute, often with the head completely submerged. On land, black-tailed godwits probe into soft ground and also pick prey items from the surface.
