Showcase Australia

Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica)

Bar-tailed Godwit

WadersWaders Index Bar-tailed Godwit Banded Lapwing Black-fronted Dotterel Black-tailed Godwit Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) Hooded Plover Inland Dotterel Lesser Sand Plover Long-toed Stint Oriental Plover Pacific Golden Plover Pectoral Sandpiper Pied Stilt Red-kneed Dotterel Red-necked Avocet Red-necked Stint Ruff Sanderling Sharp-tailed Sandpiper Sooty Oystercatcher

Recorded in the coastal areas across Australia, the Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica) is a large wader with a long neck and a long bill with a slight up-turn. The bill has a dark tip and pinkish base.

As the name suggest, the white tail of the Bar-tailed Godwit is barred with brown, being the non-breeding plumage. The breeding plumage is darker and more rufous. The females of the species is larger with longer bills than the males and have a duller breeding plumage. Both male and female show marked variation in plumages, whilst the juvenile also have distinct plumage, resembling non-breeding birds.

The following images of the Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica) were taken at Belfast Beach, Victoria / Tin Can Bay, Queensland.

Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica)
Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica) © Dorothy Latimer
Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica)
Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica) © Dorothy Latimer
Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica)
Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica) © Dorothy Latimer
Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica)
Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica) © Dorothy Latimer

Common name
Barred-rumped Godwit, Pacific Ocean Godwit, Southern Godwit and Small Godwit.

Images © Dorothy L


  • Scientific classification
  • Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Chordata
  • Class: Aves
  • Order: Charadriiformes
  • Family: Scolopacidae
  • Genus: Limosa
  • Species: Limosa lapponica

WadersWaders Index Bar-tailed Godwit Banded Lapwing Black-fronted Dotterel Black-tailed Godwit Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) Hooded Plover Inland Dotterel Lesser Sand Plover Long-toed Stint Oriental Plover Pacific Golden Plover Pectoral Sandpiper Pied Stilt Red-kneed Dotterel Red-necked Avocet Red-necked Stint Ruff Sanderling Sharp-tailed Sandpiper Sooty Oystercatcher

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