Bar-tailed godwit
Limosa lapponica (Linnaeus, 1758)
The bar-tailed godwit (Limosa lapponica), also called the barwit, is a bird in the family Scolopacidae and the order Charadriiformes. It is a small, migratory bird of wetland habitat with an adult body mass of 291.6 g, up to 354 g, and a wingspan of 73 cm.
Quick facts about the bar-tailed godwit
It is a carnivore classed as an aquatic predator, and it forages terrestrially. The IUCN lists it as Near Threatened, which is not a threatened category, and its geographic range covers 1,469,000 km².
- Weight
- 291.6 g – 354 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 73 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 11 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 33.1 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 20.8 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 24 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Near Threatened (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the bar-tailed godwit?
Photos of the bar-tailed godwit
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the bar-tailed godwit live?
Not recorded
What is the bar-tailed godwit?
The bar-tailed godwit (Limosa lapponica) is a large and strongly migratory wader in the family Scolopacidae, which feeds on bristle-worms and shellfish on coastal mudflats and estuaries. It has distinctive red breeding plumage, long legs, and a long upturned bill. Bar-tailed godwits breed on Arctic coasts and tundra from Scandinavia to Alaska, and overwinter on coasts in temperate and tropical regions of Australia and New Zealand. The migration of the subspecies Limosa lapponica baueri across the Pacific Ocean from Alaska to New Zealand is the longest known non-stop flight of any bird, and also the longest journey without pausing to feed by any animal. The round-trip migration for this subspecies is over 29,000 km (18,020 mi).
From the Wikipedia article “Bar-tailed godwit” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bar-tailed_godwit&oldid=1382978791), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the bar-tailed godwit endangered?
The bar-tailed godwit is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List: it is close to qualifying as threatened.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Near Threatened species.
How is the bar-tailed godwit classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderCharadriiformes
- familyScolopacidae
- genusLimosa
- SpeciesLimosa lapponica (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Limosa foxii, Limosa lapponica anadyrensis, Limosa lapponica novaezealandiae, Limosa rufa, Limosa rufa, Limosa rufa, Limosa uropygialis, Scolopax aegocephala, Totanus gregarius, Tringa gregaria
Other names and names in other languages (117)
- BarwitEnglish
- BandstertgrietAfrikaans
- بقويقة مخطط الذيلArabic
- بقويقة مخططة الذيلArabic
- بقويقة سلطانية مخططة الذيلArabic
- aguya roxaAsturian
- Kiçik oxcüllütAzerbaijani
- Грыцук малыBelarusian
- Малы грыцукBelarusian
- Лапландски кукуносBulgarian
- Късоопашат крайбрежен бекасBulgarian
- Пъстроопашат крайбрежен бекасBulgarian
- দাগিলেজ জৌরালিBangla
- Marc'heg ruzBreton
- tètol cuabarratCatalan
- Пӗчӗк вӑрӑмсӑмсаChuvash
- břehouš rudýCzech
- Rhostog GochWelsh
- Cyffylog y MôrWelsh
- Giach PengafrWelsh
- rhostog gynffonfraithWelsh
- Rhostog RhuddWelsh
- Rhostogod CynffonfrithWelsh
- lille kobbersneppeDanish
- PfuhlschepfeGerman
- PfuhlschnepfeGerman
- ΘαλασσολιμόζαGreek
- Λαπωνική ΒαλτομπεκάτσαGreek
- Lapona limozoEsperanto
- laponia limozoEsperanto
- Aguja colipintaSpanish
- Aguja de Cola PintadaSpanish
- Barga colipintaSpanish
- Picopando cola barradaSpanish
- Zarapito de cola barradaSpanish
- teguteguaqCentral Yupik
- tevatevaaqCentral Yupik
- vöötsaba-vigleEstonian
- Kuliska gorriBasque
- گیلانشاه حناییPersian
- نوکانبری دمنواریPersian
- punakuiriFinnish
- LónspógviFaroese
- Barge rousseFrench
- Letj rütjerNorthern Frisian
- Cearra ghob mhorScottish Gaelic
- guilbneach stríocearrachScottish Gaelic
- Roid-ghuilbneachScottish Gaelic
- Mazarico rabipintoGalician
- Feddag hraieManx
- Gob-kiare mooarManx
- לימוזה חומת־בטןHebrew
- לימוזה חומת בטןHebrew
- לימוזה חומת-בטןHebrew
- riđa muljačaCroatian
- kis godaHungarian
- Իլիկակտցար փոքրArmenian
- Biru-laut ekor-blorokIndonesian
- TurraaturaqInupiaq
- LappajaðrakanIcelandic
- pittima minoreItalian
- オオソリハシシギJapanese
- Кіші шырғалақKazakh
- 큰뒷부리도요Korean
- Godwyt coughCornish
- PullschneppLuxembourgish
- Laplandinis griciukasLithuanian
- sarkanā puskuitalaLatvian
- LavasomotraMalagasy
- KuakaMāori
- KūakaMāori
- വരവാലൻ സ്നാപ്പ്Malayalam
- വരവാലൻ ഗോഡ്വിറ്റ്Malayalam
- Girwiel Denbu bl-IstrixxiMaltese
- Хурган цууцал - ᠮᠣᠷᠢᠨ ᠴᠣᠣᠴᠠᠯᠢMongolian
- Burung Kedidi Ekor BerjalurMalay
- rosse gruttoDutch
- lappspoveNorwegian
- BoufàriePicard
- szlamikPolish
- SzlamnikPolish
- szlamnik (zwyczajny)Polish
- szlamnik rdzawyPolish
- Szlamnik zwyczajnyPolish
- بار دم آلا گاڈوٹWestern Panjabi
- fuseloPortuguese
- Becassina da ruinaRomansh
- Sitar de mal nordicRomanian
- sitarul cel mai nordicRomanian
- sitarul de mal nordicRomanian
- малый веретенникRussian
- Нетигель лапландскийRussian
- Сукалень лапландскийRussian
- КуралайYakut
- RuksesguškilNorthern Sami
- brehár hrdzavýSlovak
- progastorepi kljunačSlovenian
- gjelëza e madhe bishtvijëzuarAlbanian
- Gjelëza e vogël e bishtvijëzuarAlbanian
- Laponska muljačaSerbian
- Лапонска муљачаSerbian
- Mala muljaca - Мала муљачаSerbian
- myrspovSwedish
- Msese Mkia-mirabaSwahili
- பட்டைவால் மூக்கன்Tamil
- นกปากแอ่นหางลายThai
- Kiu foaʻunga kulaTongan
- kiyi camur culluguTurkish
- kıyı çamur çulluğuTurkish
- Бичии ээргиишTuvinian
- Грицик малийUkrainian
- Малий грицикUkrainian
- Chim Choắt mỏ thẳng đuôi vằnVietnamese
- 斑尾鷸Chinese
- 斑尾塍鷸Chinese
- 斑尾塍鹬Chinese
- 斑尾鷸〔斑尾塍鷸〕Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFTAXREFWikidataWoRMSWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the bar-tailed godwit
Other species in the same genus Limosa.
Black-tailed godwit
Limosa limosa
Hudsonian godwit
Limosa haemastica
Marbled godwit
Limosa fedoa
CompareBar-tailed godwit vs Black-tailed godwitBar-tailed godwit vs Hudsonian godwitBar-tailed godwit vs Marbled godwit
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the bar-tailed godwit?
The bar-tailed godwit is a bird in the family Scolopacidae, order Charadriiformes. It is a migratory species of wetland habitat.
How heavy is a bar-tailed godwit?
An adult Bar-tailed godwit weighs 291.6 g, with values up to 354 g reported. Its wingspan is 73 cm.
What does the bar-tailed godwit eat?
The bar-tailed godwit is a carnivore in the diet category of aquatic predator.
Is the bar-tailed godwit endangered?
No. The IUCN lists the bar-tailed godwit as Near Threatened, which is not a threatened category.
How long does a bar-tailed godwit live?
The bar-tailed godwit has a lifespan of 10.96 years, with values up to 33.08 years reported.
How many eggs does the bar-tailed godwit lay?
The bar-tailed godwit lays 4 eggs per clutch and has 1 clutch per year. Incubation lasts 20.75 days, and it reaches sexual maturity at 2 years.
Who named the bar-tailed godwit?
The bar-tailed godwit, Limosa lapponica, was named by (Linnaeus, 1758).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Bar-tailed godwit (Limosa lapponica). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/bar-tailed-godwit
“Bar-tailed godwit (Limosa lapponica).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/bar-tailed-godwit.
@misc{bar_tailed_godwit_2026,
title = {Bar-tailed godwit (Limosa lapponica)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/bar-tailed-godwit},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}