Bar-Tailed Godwit
Limosa lapponica

The Bar-Tailed Godwit breeds in the far north and most usually migrate through Asia to their winter homes in Oceana. It can generate a lot of interest when someone spots these birds on the west coast of the USA.
The genus name Limosa is from Latin and means “muddy”, referring to its preferred habitat (reported as wet sedge meadows with hummocks covered by moss).
Today’s science recognises five subspecies of Bar-Tailed Godwit:
- L. l. lapponica breeds from northern Scandinavia east, and spends winters on the western coasts of Europe and Africa, and also around the Persian Gulf.
- L. l. taymyrensis breeds in central Siberia and east.
- L. l. menzbieri breeds in northeastern Asia from the Anabar River east to the Kolyma River delta and spends winters in Australia.
- L. l. anadyrensis breeds from the Anadyr lowlands in far northeastern Asia east of the Kolyma River.
- L. l. baueri breeds in western Alaska; winters in Australia and New Zealand.
In August 2010, I met a wayward member of this species on the sandy shores of Imperial Beach a few miles north of the border with Mexico.
8 Photos

Bar-tailed Godwit(Limosa lapponica) |
Description: Part of the collection at the Western Foundation of Vertibrate Zoology in Camarillo, California USA 2011-11-01. |
Date Taken: 2011:11:01 11:58 |
Location:
W F V Z |
Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 105 mm, f/8.0, 1/4 |
File Name: D3X4415-BarTailedGodwit |
© 2011 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |


Bar-tailed Godwit(Limosa lapponica) |
Description: Part of the collection at the Western Foundation of Vertibrate Zoology in Camarillo, California USA 2011-11-01. |
Date Taken: 2011:11:01 12:00 |
Location:
W F V Z |
Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 105 mm, f/8.0, 1/3 |
File Name: D3X4416-BarTailedGodwit |
© 2011 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |


Bar-tailed Godwit(Limosa lapponica) |
Description: Part of the collection at the Western Foundation of Vertibrate Zoology in Camarillo, California USA 2011-11-01. |
Date Taken: 2011:11:01 12:01 |
Location:
W F V Z |
Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 105 mm, f/8.0, 1/5 |
File Name: D3X4417-BarTailedGodwit |
© 2011 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |


Bar-tailed Godwit(Limosa lapponica) |
Description: Normally a bird with an east Asian migration, this bird (seen feeding on Mole Crabs) was found at Camp Surf in Imperial Beach, California. San Diego County USA 2010-08-05. |
Date Taken: 2010:08:05 8:02 |
Location:
Camp Surf |
Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 |
File Name: JCD4242.BarTailedGodwit |
© 2010 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Bar-tailed Godwit(Limosa lapponica) |
Description: Normally a bird with an east Asian migration, this bird (seen feeding on Mole Crabs) was found at Camp Surf in Imperial Beach, California. San Diego County USA 2010-08-05. |
Date Taken: 2010:08:05 8:27 |
Location:
Camp Surf |
Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/800 |
File Name: JCD4363.BarTailedGodwit |
© 2010 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Bar-tailed Godwit(Limosa lapponica) |
Description: Normally a bird with an east Asian migration, this bird (seen feeding on Mole Crabs) was found at Camp Surf in Imperial Beach, California. San Diego County USA 2010-08-05. |
Date Taken: 2010:08:05 8:28 |
Location:
Camp Surf |
Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 |
File Name: JCD4383.BarTailedGodwit |
© 2010 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Bar-tailed Godwit(Limosa lapponica) |
Description: Normally a bird with an east Asian migration, this bird (seen feeding on Mole Crabs) was found at Camp Surf in Imperial Beach, California. San Diego County USA 2010-08-05. |
Date Taken: 2010:08:05 8:30 |
Location:
Camp Surf |
Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/1600 |
File Name: JCD4394.BarTailedGodwit |
© 2010 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Bar-Tailed Godwit(Limosa lapponica) |
Description: Normally a bird with an east Asian migration, this bird (seen feeding on Mole Crabs) was found at Camp Surf in Imperial Beach, California. San Diego County USA 2010-08-05. |
Date Taken: 2010:08:05 8:27 |
Location:
Camp Surf |
Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/800 |
File Name: Cut_JCD4363.BarTailedGodwit |
© 2010 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |

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