Bar-tailed Godwit at Titchwell RSPB, Norfolk

Bar-tailed and Black-tailed Godwit, a comparison

Two fairly common birds on the north Norfolk coast at this time of year are the Bar-tailed Godwit (photos above) and the Black-tailed Godwit (photos below). Superficially similar, in the fact that they both have long legs, long bills and are brown/grey, but are easily told apart, especially when seen together. The 'Barwit' is a smaller, more chunky looking bird, with shorter legs, an upturned bill and a distinct supercilium in its' winter plumage. The 'Blackwit' is a larger bird with an unfathomably long, straight bill, longer legs and a shorter, less distinct supercilium.

Poorly Barwit

All photo`s digiscoped using Canon Powershot A640 and Kowa TSN-883 x30

This female Bar-tailed Godwit was present at one of the pits at the Maxey site the other day, an area of the site frequented by dog walkers. She was seen to fly in, but when I caught up with her a couple of hours later she was showing signs of having a damaged wing (you can draw you own conclusions as to how her wing was damaged). This was not hindering the bird as far as feeding was concerned, but I am sure that she would not be able to fly.

The bird was not present the day after these photo`s were taken.

Barwits

A couple of very obliging Bar-tailed Godwits dropped into Maxey GP this evening. They looked to be female because of their brown plumage (the males at this time of year are almost brick red) and the length of their bill. They were quite happy feeding away and are a very welcome addition to my PBC year list.

Digiscoped using Canon Powershot A640 and Kowa TSN-883 x30

This bird is a close relation to the Black-tailed Godwit that I mentioned in a previous posting, but is slightly smaller with a slightly upturned bill. Unlike the `Blackwit` this bird has little leg showing above the bend in the leg and it lacks the white wing-bar. The male in Spring has a brick-red face, neck and underparts, with a mottled grey back, the female (shown) is larger than the male with a much longer bill and is less colourful (but still attractive).

The Bar-tailed Godwit does not breed in this country and is seen either on passage or in the winter months. It is a powerful migrant, indeed it has been shown that they are capable of flying across the Pacific Ocean in a single stage. One bird has flown from New Zealand to China without stopping, a distance of 11,026km!