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 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 |