Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordate
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Scolopacidae
Genus: Limosa
Species: L. lapponica
Subspecies: Limosa lapponica baueri
Binomial name: Limosa lapponica baueri
Common name: Eastern Bar Tailed Godwit, Kuaka, Barwit, Bartailed godwit, Bar tailed godwit.
The species Limosa lapponica contain 3 subspecies of which Limosa lapponica baueri is in the largest.
It is a distinctive medium-sized long-legged wader with brown and grey plumage brown above, pale below. Its bill is long and tapering and slightly upturned and is bi-coloured, pink at the base and black towards the tip. It is classed as a native are fully protected in New Zealand.
It breeds in northeastern Asia, east of the Kolyma River, and western Alaska and winters in Australia and New Zealand. Its migration is the longest known non-stop flight of any bird and also the longest journey (about 12,000 kilometres) without pausing to feed by any animal.
They arrive in New Zealand during September and October and congregate in harbours and estuaries around the country. It forages by probing in mudflats or marshes. It eats mainly insects and crustaceans, but also parts of aquatic plants.
It is during March that the godwits take off for their long migratory flight to Alaska.
For more complete details visit: http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/bar-tailed-godwit
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Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
