Thursday, December 17, 2015

Wild Bird Wednesday: Bar-tailed Godwit

Bar-tailed Godwits are quite large waders, with females being bigger than males. The Bar-tailed Godwit is mainly mottled brown above and lighter and more uniform buff below. It has dull white underwings, and a long, slightly upturned bill. 





As the name suggests, the white tail is barred with brown. This is the non-breeding plumage of the Bar-tailed Godwit and is the main phase seen in Australia. The breeding plumage is darker and more rufous, with females duller than males. Young birds resemble non-breeding birds. 



Bar-tailed Godwits arrive in Australia each year in August from breeding grounds in the northern hemisphere. Birds are more numerous in northern Australia.





Linking with these memes:

           

9 comments:

Brian King said...

Gorgeous photos, Liz!

Anonymous said...

Just lovely.

eileeninmd said...

Gorgeous birds and lovely series of photos. Have a happy weekend!

Helen said...

Fabulous photographs of these birds.

Stewart M said...

Wonderful birds - always like watching these - one day I'll get some shots that do not have to be cropped too much!!

Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

eileeninmd said...

Hello, I love your Godwit photos. Well done! Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Have a happy weekend.

Merry Christmas to you and your family.

Christine said...

A wonderful informative post of these lovely wading birds!

sunshine said...

Great photos and birds.

Connie Smiley said...

Cool shots!

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