Bar-Tailed Godwit Welfare and Non-Stop Migration

The bar-tailed godwit holds the world record for non-stop migration, flying up to 12,200km from Alaska to New Zealand without landing, making its welfare during pre-migration fuelling on British estuaries critically important.

Key Facts

Bar-tailed godwits have completed confirmed non-stop flights of 12,200km from Alaska to New Zealand in nine days
Around 53,000 winter on British estuaries, feeding intensively on lugworms and other intertidal invertebrates
Before long-distance migration they reduce their digestive organs and grow flight muscles and fat reserves dramatically
Males in breeding plumage are deep orange-red; females are paler and larger
The Wash and Morecambe Bay hold the largest UK concentrations of wintering bar-tailed godwits

Welfare Considerations

Bar-tailed godwit welfare at British estuaries is significant because birds use UK mudflats as a key fuelling ground before northward migration to Arctic breeding areas. Loss of intertidal habitat through reclamation or sea level rise without compensatory managed realignment reduces the capacity of birds to accumulate the fuel needed for migration. Disturbance that prevents feeding during limited tidal windows forces birds to spend more time at less productive sites, arriving at breeding grounds in poorer condition.

What You Can Do

Support managed realignment at key estuaries to maintain bar-tailed godwit fuelling habitat
Advocate for strong protection of the Wash, Morecambe Bay, and other key wintering sites
Contribute bar-tailed godwit count records to WeBS national waterbird surveys
Back Arctic tundra conservation programs protecting breeding habitat
Engage with the extraordinary migration biology of godwits to raise public understanding of migratory bird welfare