Bar-tailed Godwit

Limosa lapponica (Linnaeus, 1758)

Bar-tailed Godwit, Limosa lapponica, breeds patchily in the low Arctic tundra of the far north of the Palearctic, from far northern Scandinavia to Chukotskiy and the Anadyr Peninsula in north-east Russia, and in northern and western Alaska. Outside the breeding season it is found on coasts across Africa, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, south-east Asia, the Indonesian Archipelago, the Ryukyu Islands, south China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Australasia, New Zealand and Fiji. It is a wader in the sandpiper and snipe family, and is known for its long upturned bill.

Order

Charadriiformes

Family

Scolopacidae — Sandpipers, Snipes

Breeding range

Palearctic: patchily in low Arctic tundra of n Palearctic: far n Scandinavia to Chukotskiy and Anadyr pens. (ne Russia) and n, w Alaska

Nonbreeding range

Africa, Oriental Region, Australasia: mainly temperate to tropical coasts: British Isles, s Europe, w Mediterranean, Africa, Malagasy region through Middle East, Indian subcontinent, se Asia, Indonesian Arch.; Ryukyu Is. (s Japan), se China, Taiwan, Philippines, Australasia from New Guinea region to Melanesia and New Zealand, and Fiji (sw Polynesia)