Bar-tailed Godwit

Yesterday was a special experience observing the mild behaviour and habits of this migrating bird assembling at Kaiawa on the Firth of Thames, while it rests up ready to take on the long migration north. In non-breeding plumage the sexes are alike, but the female is markedly bigger than the male, and her slightly upcurved beak which is flesh pink on basal and half grading to blackish at the tip, is twice as long as her head. The male's beak is one and a half times the size of his head. In breeding plumage the male's head, neck and underparts are reddish chestnut. The breeding plumage of the female is much paler with wide, individual variation. It breeds in northeastern Siberia, west central and northern Alaska, and winters in south China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Borneo, New Guinea and Au... read morestralia. These Godwits start to arrive in New Zealand in late September, simultaneously at many localities, suggesting that most birds return directly to traditional wintering grounds. The most favoured localities seem to be Kaipara, Manukau, the Firth of Thames and Fairwell Spit. Their departure is mainly in the latter part of March. Birds seen after March are mainly non-breeders, few of them showing reddened plumage. They feed on crustaceans, molluscs or worms probing deeply into intertidal mud flats or wet sand. They roost on sandbanks, shellbanks and spits that are surrounded by water at high tide.

25 November 2020
What appears to be a new world record for a non-stop migration marathon for an adult Godwit which was fitted with a transmitter in November 2019, and was tracked by satellites across the Pacific Ocean, recorded coverering more than 12,000 km in 9.3 days, touching speeds close to 100km/h. This bird is named 4BBRW (after the bands on its legs) Its estimated flight time was 224 hours. It left Alaska on September 18 2020 and arrived in the Firth of Thames, NZ around 9:30pm on September 27 2020 - nine straight days airborne. The bird's astounding effort is being hailed as a record by birdwatchers around the world. "We think it's the distance record. (A bird named E7 flew 11,680km in 2007") said Keith Woodley, manager of the Miranda Shorebird Centre on the West Coast of the Firth of Thames, "and we think that this bird has gone a bit further than that. He's truly a champion." The godwits migrate from NZ to China in March and April, stopping to feed in the Yellow Sea before heading to Alaska in May and June where they stay for several months during the Northern Hemisphere Summer, returning here in September. The little solar-powered devices on the birds help track if they follow the same flight paths over several migration cycles. Godwits double their weight before their marathon migration, increase their red blood cells, and while on their long flights they contract their digestive sysyem - changes that occur three times a year. Even though they seem to have a very fast metabolism, they arrive back exhausted from their trip to Alaska, and seem to be able to recover within hours or days. The data also gives an insight into how the changing weather patterns impact on their migration flight routes. Godwits are classified as in decline due to loss of their habitat.

Breeding in the high Arctic and wintering on coasts throughout the Old World, this species holds the record for long-distance migration, with a radio-tagged bird flying non-stop 11,680 kilometres from Alaska to New Zealand.