Black-tailed godwits are large wading birds. 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-taileds have longer legs, and bar-taileds don’t have striped wings. As the names suggest, the tail patterns are different, too.
Key ID Features
Stunning summer adults are coppery-red from head to breast, the rest of the body being brown with black spotting on the back and barring on the flanks.
Juveniles also have a rufous colouring on back, head and breast.
Winter adults have grey upper parts and white underparts.
The very long legs and long, straight, pink bill with a black tip is constant.
Broad white wing bars run along the black trailing wing edge and a solid black tail below a white rump, more visible in flight, help to separate this from the similar Bar-tailed Godwit.
Overview
Scientific name: Limosa limosa
Family: Sandpipers and allies (Scolopacidae)
Where 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.
Seen in UK:
It’s easiest to see black-tailed godwits from late summer through winter.
What they eat
Insects, worms and snails, but also some plants, beetles, grasshoppers and other small insects during the breeding season.
Text (c) RSPB, used with permission
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Photographer: Tim Tapley
