Bar-tailed Godwit

A coastal godwit easily confused with Black-tailed Godwit.

A recording has not been added yet. Use the identification notes below for now.

I know this bird · Record a sighting Where to look & how to find it ↓

FIELDCRAFT · FIND WITH CARE

Finding guide

Season first

Choose the season, find the habitat, then watch patiently. Search guidance is not a measure of rarity or conservation status.

When to go: Mainly autumn to spring, including passage
Where to start: Estuary paths and hides overlooking tidal flats; do not flush roosting flocks.
What to do when you arrive: In autumn and winter, scan tidal flats for long-billed waders, comparing slightly upturned bills and shorter legs with Black-tailed Godwit. Use several features and allow uncertainty at distance.

Habitat and behaviour reference: BirdWatch Ireland ↗ · The practical steps are editorial advice based on the references, not live sightings.

SPECIES NOTESSpecies notes

How to identify it

Long, slightly upturned bill, patterned upperparts and a finely barred tail. Lacks Black-tailed Godwit's broad white wing-bar. Grey-brown in winter, often reddish below in breeding plumage.

Habitat

Estuaries, intertidal mud and sand, and coastal shallows.

Behaviour

Follows the tides to feed on worms and molluscs on sandy mudflats.

When to look

Mainly autumn to spring, including passage

Where to look

Estuary paths and hides overlooking tidal flats; do not flush roosting flocks.

Reference photos do not show every sex, age, season or geographic form; use the identification notes too.

Further reading:BirdWatch Ireland ↗ · Wikipedia ↗

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