Bar-tailed Godwit is an Amber listed Bird of Conservation Concern in the UK but of Least Concern on a European scale. The species is classified as near-threatened by BirdLife International and the IUCN.

Bar-tailed Godwit occurs as a passage and winter migrant with two subspecies recorded in the UK, lapponica and  tamyrensis.

 Bar Tailed Godwit1

Bar-tailed godwits breed from northern Norway through northern Russia and beyond to Alaska. However, only the subspecies lapponica uses the tidal areas of the North Sea. On the Humber Estuary, Bar-tailed Godwits occur in large numbers in winter, and prefer the sandier tidal flats of the outer estuary. With a wintering population of 1,457 (latest five-year WeBS average), the Humber Estuary ranked as the 10th most important estuary in the UK. Similarly to Black-tailed Godwits, Bar-tailed Godwits are caught in saltmarsh pools (albeit in lower numbers). Contrary to Black-tailed Godwit, colour-ringed birds have produced fewer re-sightings on breeding grounds as the species breeds in remote High Arctic regions.

Details of recovered ringed birds are shown in the table below:

Ring No Age/Sex Date ringed Place ringed Date found How found Place found Distance & Direction Time
DE80088 3 18/11/2016 Kilnsea Wetlands 22/07/2017 VV Kilnsea Wetlands 0 259 days
DK05629 3F 04/09/1989 Cherry Cobb Sands 26/07/2009 C Snettisham, Norfolk 97 SSE 19yrs 304 days
EW59210 3 28/9/2008 Chalk Bank 06/02/2009 VV Pywipe 15 W 132 days
        31/12/2009 VV Pywipe 15 W 1yr 95 days
EG52212 3 17/12/2016 Kilnsea Wetlands 17/06/2017 VV Terschelling, Waddensee, NETHERLANDS 334 E 182 days
EG99263 3 30/10/2004 Cherry Cobb Sands 15/03/2005 VV Spurn (Chalk Bank) 21 ESE 136 days
        02/07/2005 VV Spurn (Chalk Bank) 21 ESE 246 days
        13/09/2005 VV Spurn (Long Bank) 21 ESE 319 days
        28/05/2010 VV Nordstrand, Schleswig Holstein, GERMANY 589 E 5 yrs 210 days
EG99272 6M 29/1/2006 Cherry Cobb Sands 18/02/2006 X Spurn (Chalk Bank) 21 ESE 20 days
EG99278 3 7/11/2010 North Killingholme Pits 08/03/2011 VV South Killingholme 2 E 121 days
EL69539 3 26/9/2018 Welwick Saltmarsh Pools 03/08/2019 VV Sehael, Terschelling, NETHERLANDS 351 E 311 days
        11/08/2019 VV Oeltjens, Terschelling, NETHERLANDS 356 E 319 days
        15/08/2019 VV Oeltjens, Terschelling, NETHERLANDS 356 E 323 days
EL69601 3F 10/12/2018 Welwick Saltmarsh Pools 02/02/2019 VV Welwick Realignment Site 1 W 54 days
        24/06/2019 VV Frampton Marsh, Lincs 80 S 197 days
EL69604 3 10/12/2018 Welwick Saltmarsh Pools 21/05/2019 VV Vollerwiek, Schleswig Holstein, GERMANY 578 E 162 days
EY21421 5 3/3/2013 Long Bank Marsh 26/07/2013 C Leverton Outgate, Lincs 71 S 145 days