Rob Robinson

Black-tailed Godwit breeds in wet grassland across a wide range at mid-latitudes in Eurasia, from Iceland to Shetland (ssp islandica), W and C Europe to Russia (nominate ssp limosa), with fragmented distribution further E in Inner Mongolia, E Siberia to Kamchatka and Chukotka. Islandica winters along coasts from Scotland to Iberia, while limosa winters in the Mediterranean and sub-Saharan Africa.

Season of assessment

B

Population trendStable
Population size
(min-max, best estimate)		272000-334000,300000
Red List categoryNT
Franks, S., Fiedler, W., Arizaga, J., Jiguet, F., Nikolov, B., van der Jeugd, Ambrosini, R, Aizpurua, O., Bairlein, F., Clark, J., Fattorini, N, Hammond, M., Higgins, D, Levering, H., Skellorn, W., Spina, F, Thorup, K. Walker, J., Woodward, I. and Baillie, S.R. (1) (2022) Online Atlas of the movements of European bird populations. https://migrationatlas.org EURING/CMS (1) Principal investigator
Map

Overall Connectivity for Black-tailed Godwit

There are two clear migratory routes - Icelandic godwits move to the SE to winter in the British Isles, the Bay of Biscay and Portugal. Birds from continental Europe move SW and winter along the coasts of W Africa, from Senegal to Sierra Leone, and also the Inner Niger delta in Mali. An increasing number of continental birds spend the whole winter in Iberia.

Recoveries by Condition for Black-tailed Godwit

There are very few recoveries before 1961. After 2009, most recoveries are of live birds identified by their colour rings. The overall proportion of live recoveries is 86%, 93% after 1990.

Annual Movements for Black-tailed Godwit

Several tracking studies provide details on annual movements. Dutch limosa first move to stopover sites in the Mediterranean and the Bay of Biscay, where some (15%) stay for the winter, while the majority conitnue to W Africa; a few fly nonstop to W Africa (Hooijmeijer et al. 2014, Verhoeven et al. 2021). A recent tracking analysis reported high inter- and intra-individual variation in migratory behaviour across years, and higher mortality during the Sahara crossing (Senner et al. 2019). Arrivals at breeding sites in Iceland advanced by 10 days between 1998 and 2009 (Gunnarsson 2010).

Connectivity by Month by Region for Black-tailed Godwit

Icelandic birds witering in Spain and Portugal start to move N in Feb, many staging in the British Isles and the Netherlands (Alves et al. 2011). The first arrivals in Iceland are in the second half of Apr, with last departures from the British Isles in early May. Birds return to the wintering grounds at the end of Jul, leaving in the second half of Apr. Continental breeders (W and C regions) return to their breeding grounds during the second half of March, with the first SW movements to the Atlantic coast noted in mid-Jul, peaking in the first half of Aug.

Frédéric Jiguet

References

Statistics Map
N records N individuals N recoveries
Mapped data*
Total available data
*Mapped data include only distant (>= 50 km) recoveries
References Map
Alves, J.A., Gunnarsson, T.G., Potts, P.M., Gélinaud, G., Sutherland, W.J., Gill, J.A.2011 . Overtaking on migration: does longer distance migration always incur a penalty?. Oikos 121 Link to Article (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0706.2011.19678.x) : 464–470
Gunnarsson, T.G.2010 . Contrasting the flexibility of schedules in related species with different migrationstr ategies: Black-tailed Godwits and Whimbrels breeding in Iceland. Wader Study Group Bulletin 117: 46–50
Hooijmeijer, J.C.E.W., Senner, N.R., Tibbitts T.L., Gill, R.E., Douglas, D.C., Bruinzeel, L.W., Wymenga, E., Piersma, T.2014 . Post-Breeding Migration of Dutch-Breeding Black-Tailed Godwits: Timing, Routes, Use of Stopovers, and Nonbreeding Destinations. Ardea 111 Link to Article (DOI: https://doi.org/10.5253/078.101.0209) : 141–152
Senner, N.R., Verhoeven, M.A., Abad-Gómez, J.M., Alves J.A., Hooijmeijer, J.C.E.W., Howison, R.A., Kentie, R., Loonstra, A.H.J., Masero, J.A., Rocha, A., Stager, M., Piersma T.2019 . High Migratory Survival and Highly Variable Migratory Behavior in Black-Tailed Godwits. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 7 Link to Article (DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2019.00096)
Verhoeven, M.A., Loonstra, A.H.J., McBride, A.D. et al.2021 . Migration route, stopping sites, and non-breeding destinations of adult Black-tailed Godwits breeding in southwest Fryslân, The Netherlands. Journal of Ornithology 162 Link to Article (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-020-01807-3) : 61–76

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