Michele Mendi

Bar-tailed Godwit breed across the Arctic tundra from Eurasia to Alaska. They have a very large winter range, from S Scandinavia and the British Isles to the W coasts of Africa, the coasts of the Middle East to Madagascar, and from S China to Australia and New Zealand. Ssp. lapponica breeds from Norway to NW Russia and winters in W Europe. Siberian taymyrensis birds pass through W Europe in autumn and spring (Rousseau et al. 2021).

Season of assessment

W

Population trendStable
Population size
(min-max, best estimate)		98600-119000,108000
Red List categoryLC
Franks, S., Fiedler, W., Arizaga, J., Jiguet, F., Nikolov, B., van der Jeugd, Ambrosini, R, Aizpurua, O., Bairlein, F., Clark, J., Fattorini, N, Hammond, M., Higgins, D, Levering, H., Skellorn, W., Spina, F, Thorup, K. Walker, J., Woodward, I. and Baillie, S.R. (1) (2022) Online Atlas of the movements of European bird populations. https://migrationatlas.org EURING/CMS (1) Principal investigator
Map

Overall Connectivity for Bar-tailed Godwit

Duijns et al. (2012) analysed ringing and colour-ringing recoveries and confirmed that ssp. lapponica breeds in N Scandinavia and winters in Europe, while ssp. taymyrensis breeds in N Siberia and winters exclusively in W Africa. The different migratory behaviour of the two populations means that they are nearly completely separated in summer and winter, with a clear leap-frog migration, in which the Siberian breeders winter S of the European breeders. A recent compilation of tracks of numerous taymyrensis revealed that birds wintering in the Middle East breed in the NW Siberia (now proposed as ssp. yamalensis), and birds from W Africa breed further east (Taymyr Peninsula) (Bom et al. 2021).

Recoveries by Condition for Bar-tailed Godwit

There are numerous recoveries each year since 1980, corresponding to an increase in reports of colour-ringed Bar-tailed Godwits. Overall 37% of recoveries have been identified from colour rings (50% since 1990), and 6% have been shot (80% before 1961).

Annual Movements for Bar-tailed Godwit

For Siberian breeders, tracking data show departures from the Wadden Sea from mid-May, stopovers near the White Sea in early Jun, and also in Aug on the return migration (Exo et al. 2016). After breeding in the Siberian tundra, the same adults move to the Siberian coast between the end of Jun and the end of Jul, probably depending on breeding failure/success, then start to move back to Europe in early Aug.

Connectivity by Month by Region for Bar-tailed Godwit

The first spring movements of birds wintering in NW and W Europe are apparent from mid-Apr, but become more pronounced in the first dekad of May; the Siberian breeding grounds are reached by the end of May. There is an increase in encounters in the Wadden Sea by the end of Jul, as early adults return, while some non-breeders remain on the European wintering grounds throughout the year. There are some winter movements, with many lapponica moving west (from the Netherlands and E England) after moulting and starting their return journeys as early as Feb.

Frédéric Jiguet

References

Statistics Map
N records N individuals N recoveries
Mapped data*
Total available data
*Mapped data include only distant (>= 50 km) recoveries
References Map
Bom, R.A., J.R., Verkuil, Y.I., Alves, J.A., de Fouw, J., Dekinga, A., Hassell, C.J., Klaassen, R.H.G., Kwarteng, A.Y., Rakhimberdiev, Y., Rocha, A., ten Horn, J., Tibbitts, T.L., Tomkovich, P.S., Victor, R., Piersma, T.2021 . Central-West Siberian-breeding Bar-tailed Godwits (Limosa lapponica) segregate in two morphologically distinct flyway populations. Ibis Link to Article (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.13024)
Duijns, S., Jukema, J., Spaans, B., van Horssen, P., Piersma, T.2012 . Revisiting the proposed leap-frog migration of Bar-tailed Godwit along the East-Atlantic flyway. Ardea 100: 37–45
Exo, K.-M., Hillig, F., Dierschke, V., Kondratyev, A., Kruckenberg, H., Stahl, J., Südbeck, P., Bairlein, F2016 . Current challenges of bird conservation in the Wadden Sea and German offshore areas. Natur und Landschaft 91 Link to Article (DOI: https://doi.org/10.17433/6.2016.50153395.253-261) : 253–261
Rousseau, P., Robin, F., Delaporte, P., Jourdan, C., Bocher, P.2021 . Une Barge rousse Limosa lapponica hivernant en France migre jusqu’au Taïmyr. Ornithos 28: 367–371

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