Limosa limosa
A tall, long-billed wader with bold black-and-white wing flashes.
Size: 36-44 cm | Habitat: Sea, Marsh, Estuary & Shoreline Birds | Season: Passage migrant, winter visitor, rare breeder
The black-tailed godwit is a large, elegant wader with a very long, straight bill and, in flight, a bold black tail band and broad white wing-stripe that set it apart from the similar bar-tailed godwit. England's tiny breeding population numbers only around 60 pairs.
Very long, straight bill (pink base, dark tip) · bold white wing-bar and black tail band visible in flight · long legs trail well beyond the tail · summer adult: brick-orange head, neck and breast · taller and more upright than bar-tailed godwit
Black-tailed godwits probe deeply in soft mud and wet grassland for worms and other invertebrates, often wading up to their belly. Wintering flocks gather in large, tightly packed groups on estuary mudflats and flooded grassland.
England's breeding black-tailed godwits are so scarce and vulnerable to flooding that conservationists have run a 'headstarting' programme — collecting eggs from flood-prone nests, hand-rearing the chicks in captivity, and releasing them back into the wild once they can fly.
The Black-tailed Godwit (Limosa limosa) is a genuine conservation priority species in England, where the breeding population — centred on the Ouse Washes and a handful of other wetland reserves — numbers only around 60 pairs, vulnerable to spring flooding that can wipe out an entire season's nests in days.
To counter this, conservationists run a headstarting programme: eggs are collected from flood-prone nests, hatched and hand-reared in captivity to fledging age, then released back into the wild, a labour-intensive intervention that has measurably boosted the fragile population. Away from these breeding sites, far larger numbers of Icelandic-breeding black-tailed godwits winter on British estuaries, distinguishable in flight by their bold black tail band and broad white wing-stripe.
Its long, straight bill and taller, more upright stance are the best ways to separate it from the similar bar-tailed godwit at a glance.
🔴 Conservation status: Red (UK Birds of Conservation Concern 5)
Red-listed as a breeder, with England's tiny, flood-vulnerable breeding population the subject of active conservation intervention including a chick headstarting programme.