Bar-tailed Godwit

Scientific Name Limosa

Native Yes

Family Scolopacidae

Common Weight 275-600 Grams

Common Height 21-24 CM

Common Length 37-41 CM

Identification

The Godwit is a migrant from Alaska, they arrive in NZ and can be found on Waiheke from September – March located at Blackpool.

The bar-tailed godwit is the most common Arctic migrant in New Zealand. It is a large long-legged wader, predominantly brown above, pale below, with a long tapering and slightly upturned bi-coloured bill, pink at the base and black towards the tip.

Males are markedly smaller with shorter bills than females.

Godwits hold cultural significance for many New Zealanders. For Maori they were birds of mystery, (‘Kua kite te kohanga kuaka? Who has seen the nest of the kuaka?’) and were believed to accompany spirits of the departed.

Godwits perform the longest nonstop flight of any non-seabird, and, unlike a seabird, there is no chance of an inflight snack.

Migration departures are staggered through March, in flocks varying between less than ten birds to over a hundred. Individual birds have their own departure schedule and will aim to leave within the same 3-4 day window each year. Time of departure from New Zealand is determined by a bird’s destination: birds leaving in early March breed in more southern areas of western Alaska while birds leaving in late March breed north of the Brooks Range.

Birds tracked by satellite on their 11,000-12,000 km flights to New Zealand took 8-9 days, with an average flight speed of 56 kph.

Bar-tailed godwits forage over the intertidal zone at low tide – either individually dispersed or in loose formations. They congregate in flocks at high tide roosts, but can be extremely wary birds, often difficult to closely approach

Godwits most commonly call in flight, usually a-wik,a-wik,a-wik. For most of their time in New Zealand they are usually silent on the ground, but immediately before migration departures there is a notable increase in both frequency and volume of calls from individuals that are about to leave.

Waiheke Wildlife

Sacred Kingfisher

The sacred kingfisher is a distinctive bird with a green-blue back, buff to yellow undersides and a large black bill. they can be found nearby tidal beaches on waiheke.

Spotted Turtle Dove

The spotted dove is a medium-sized, long-tailed dove, with a greyish head and speckled greyish brown upperparts. Found on Waiheke around gardens and the rooster reserve.

White Faced Heron

The white-faced heron is a tall, elegant, blue-grey bird usually spotted stalking prey. Locations found on Waiheke are Mangroves, Anzac bay and quiet beaches.

Common Myna

Mynas are stocky brown birds with a shiny black head and shoulders. Commonly found on road sides on Waiheke, usually playing chicken with cars while foraging for food.

Spur-winged Plover

The Spur-winged plover is a large stocky wader with a yellow bill and spurs on each wing, locations found on Waiheke are Blackpool, Maori hill and Whakanewha.

Kaka

The Kaka is a large, olive-brown parrot with grey-white crown, red-orange underwing and deep crimson belly, located in tree covered areas around Onetangi.

Fantail

The Fantail is a well known NZ bird due to its distinctive fanned tail. Locations found on Waiheke are any well-treed parks, bush walks and even properties.

Pied Stilt

The pied stilt is a dainty wading bird, It is common at wetlands and coastal areas, found on Waiheke at Putiki Bay, Anzac Bay and Blackpool.

Thrush

The thrush is a medium-sized songbird with a speckled brown-on-cream breast, usually heard before it is seen, found in grass reserves, gardens and trees on Waiheke.

Great black-backed gull

The Black-backed gull is a large black-and-white gull with a white head and underparts, black back, yellow bill with a red spot near the tip. Located on Waiheke beaches.

Pūkeko

The Pukeko is a large relatively compact rail with a deep blue-violet head, breast and throat and a red bill. Found in swamp/Mangrove areas of Waiheke Island.

Australasian Gannet

The gannet is a large slender-bodied seabird with mainly white plumage, buff-yellow head and neck. Occassionally seen around Waiheke searching for food in ocean depths.

White-Eye

A small songbird, immediately recognisable by its distinctive white eye-ring. This quick little bird can be found feeding off flax and kowhais or fruit trees on Waiheke.

Pied Shag

This large black-and-white shag is often seen individually or in a group, usually spotted in the ocean searching for food or hanging around fisherman by the rocks of Waiheke.

Little Shag

The little shag is a small shag, with a short yellow bill, black feet, a relatively long tail, usually spotted in the ocean searching for food or hanging around Waiheke…

Variable Oyster Catcher

The variable oystercatcher is a stocky coastal bird with a long, bright orange bill, it is located on many quiet beaches such as Blackpool, Whakanewha and Anzac bay.

Black Bird

The black bird is a medium-sized songbird that is entirely black in adult males with a yellow bill. Abundantly found on Waiheke around household properties and trees.

Tui

The Tui is a iridescent blue-green honeyeater with two curled white feather tufts on the throat. Locations found on Waiheke are around flaxes feeding off nectar.

Grey Warbler

The Grey Warbler is a tiny olive-grey song bird often heard before seen. Locations on Waiheke are dense woody vegetations. The warbler can be difficult to spot.

Wood Pigeon

The Wood pigeon is a large distinctively-coloured pigeon, it is easy to find on Waiheke due to its size, they are usually perched on powerlines or trees.

Welcome Swallow

Welcome swallows are small fast-flying birds, they are usually seen around waiheke during breeding season between August and February on powerlines, fences and beaches.

White Fronted Tern

The white-fronted tern is a medium-sized, long-tailed sea tern commonly around New Zealand coasts. Spotted congregating on Waiheke wharfs such as Matiatia and Orapiu.

The Godwit is a migrant from Alaska, they fly 8-9 days straight to arrive in NZ. They can be found on Waiheke from September - March located at Blackpool.

NZ Dotterel

The New Zealand Dotterel is a shorebird which breeds on beaches in NZ's North Island. Locations found on Waiheke are Whakanewha, Anzac Bay and Blackpool.

Red Billed Gull

The red-billed gull also known as a "Seagull" is common around New Zealand Coasts. Located everywhere on Waiheke beaches where food or bait is readily accessible.

Magpie

The Magpie is a large black-and-white songbird, It was introduced from Australia. It can be found on Waiheke around farmland and large grass reserves.

Breeding

breeding season, birds generally begin arriving from early September, usually after a non-stop 8-9 days flight. They begin departing on northern migration from early March, heading for refuelling sites around the Yellow Sea. They do not breed until their third or fourth year, so each southern winter there are hundreds of non-breeding birds remaining in New Zealand.

Eastern bar-tailed godwits breed on upland and coastal tundra on the western rim of Alaska, from the coast to up to 200 km inland, from the Gulf of Alaska to North Slope.

A clutch of four eggs is laid in a shallow bowl often lined with lichen. Each egg is approximately 11% of a female’s body mass. With a fully developed and mobile chicks at hatching.

Juveniles arrive in New Zealand after their first trans-Pacific flight when barely four months old.

Food

On non-breeding grounds bar-tailed godwits mainly eat polychaetes (probably over 70% of diet) but also small bivalves and crustaceans. They also forage in wet pasture for terrestrial invertebrates.

On breeding grounds, they consume cranefly larvae and other invertebrates, and some berries, particularly soon after arrival.

Waiheke Locations

Blackpool Beach – This is where i have mainly seen them and have photographed.

Bar tail Godwits are flying birds they are not just on Waiheke, they can be found in other areas of New Zealand. these are just areas I’ve spotted them on Waiheke and photographed.