Bar-tailed Godwit

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Bar-tailed Godwit in the UK

Bar-tailed Godwit is a winter visitor and passage migrant. It does not breed here: our birds nest on Arctic tundra. The UK winter population is estimated at about 54,000. Wetland counts show a fall of 28% between 1998 and 2023, from a peak in the early 2000s, and it is Amber-listed in the UK. Unlike Black-tailed Godwit it is tied to the coast and is unusual inland. Some non-breeding birds stay through the summer on the larger estuaries. A second population passes through in spring on its way north from West Africa.

Where and when to see a Bar-tailed Godwit

Large sandy estuaries and bays hold nearly all of them, including the Wash, the Thames, the Ribble, Morecambe Bay, the Dee, Lindisfarne and the Forth. RSPB Snettisham on the Wash is a good place to watch flocks pushed off the mud by a big tide. Arrive an hour or two before high water between September and March. In the last days of April and the first half of May, flocks in breeding plumage move east up the English Channel past Dungeness and other south coast headlands, often with Whimbrel.

Habitat, diet and field notes

Habitat: Estuaries, mudflats.
Diet: Marine worms, molluscs.
Field note: Slightly upcurved bill; barred tail.

How to identify a Bar-tailed Godwit

Between a Redshank and a Curlew in size, with a long, slightly upturned bill that is pink at the base. It is shorter-legged than Black-tailed Godwit, so it looks more front-heavy. Winter birds are streaky grey-brown above, like a small, straight-billed Curlew. Breeding males turn deep brick-red from face to undertail. Females are larger, longer-billed and much paler. In flight there is no white wingbar: look for a plain brown wing, a white wedge up the back and a finely barred tail, with the feet barely showing beyond it.

Call and song

Fairly quiet for a wader. The flight call is a nasal, barking 'kirruc' or 'ke-vu', lower and less ringing than a Curlew. Feeding flocks keep up a low chatter. Heard something you cannot place? Bird Hear identifies UK birds from a 10 second recording, free in your browser.

Confusion species

• Black-tailed Godwit: Black-tailed has a bold white wingbar, a square white rump and black tail in flight, longer legs and a straighter bill.
• Eurasian Curlew: Curlew is bigger with a long, clearly downcurved bill.
• Whimbrel: Whimbrel has a downcurved bill and a striped crown, and gives a rippling seven-note whistle.

Month by month

A winter visitor, typically in the UK from August through to April. Numbers peak in January. See the January birding guide for what else is about. More on the season in Bird migration in Britain.

Taller bars mean more birds about. Grey means it is usually absent.

Conservation status and Birdedex points

In the Birdedex the Bar-tailed Godwit is an Uncommon tier bird, worth +3 points when you log one. It is Amber-listed in Birds of Conservation Concern 5, the middle level of concern in the UK.

Recent UK sightings

Similar birds

• Black-tailed GodwitUncommon · Wet grassland
• Hudsonian GodwitLegendary · Coastal pools (very rare)
• Grey PloverUncommon · Estuaries
• Common ShelduckUncommon · Estuaries
• Brent GooseUncommon · Coastal mudflats
• Common GreenshankUncommon · Bogs (summer); estuaries (passage)

Bar-tailed Godwit: quick answers

What is the difference between Bar-tailed Godwit and Black-tailed Godwit?

Wait for the bird to fly. Black-tailed shows a broad white wingbar and a black tail below a white rump. Bar-tailed has plain wings and a barred tail. On the ground, Bar-tailed has shorter legs, a more upturned bill and a streaked back in winter, where Black-tailed is smooth grey.

What does a Bar-tailed Godwit eat?

Lugworms and ragworms, small shellfish and shrimps, taken by probing wet sand and mud at the tide edge. Females have longer bills than males and can feed in deeper water. Flocks follow the tide out and back.

When is the best time to see Bar-tailed Godwit?

October to March for numbers, and late April to mid May for birds in red breeding plumage. It is a famous long-distance migrant: birds of the Alaskan race have been tracked flying over 11,000km non-stop across the Pacific. Our European birds make shorter hops along the coast.

Kit that helps

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