Nature Photographers Ltd

Black-tailed Godwit - Limosa limosa. L 38-42cm. Long-legged wader with long, straight bill. In flight, has black tail, white rump and white wingbars on upperwing. Sexes are dissimilar in summer. Adult male in breeding plumage has reddish orange face, neck and breast. Greyish back is spangled with reddish brown and belly is whitish with barring on flanks. Adult female in breeding plumage is similar but reddish elements of plumage are less intense. Winter adult is grey-brown, palest on belly; undertail is white. Juvenile recalls winter adult but has orange suffusion on neck and breast and pale fringes and dark spotting on back feathers. Voice Utters a kwe-we-we call in flight. Status Rare British breeder; Ouse and Nene Washes are strongholds and favours wet grassland. Icelandic migrants boost numbers outside breeding season; locally common on muddy estuaries.