Our shore birds

Godwits

   

Bar-tailed godwits, Limosa lapponica, have the longest known non-stop flight of any migrant flying 11,000 km. They breed in Alaska and Eastern Siberia, flying from there they arrive here in September. Godwits inhabit mudflats, estuaries, coastal lagoons and Kawaw Bay. Prior to migration, 55 percent of their bodyweight is stored as fat to fuel this uninterrupted journey.

The females are larger with longer bills. Males assume russet coloured nuptial plumage before return migration. They feed by probing in the mud for worms crustaceans and molluscs

 

 

 

 

Spoonbill

The royal spoonbill (Platalea regia) also known as the black-billed spoonbill, occurs in intertidal flats and shallows of fresh and saltwater wetlands in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands. It has also been recorded as a vagrant in New Caledonia. The royal spoonbill lives in wetlands and feeds on crustaceans, fish and small insects by sweeping its bill from side to side. It always flies with its head extended.

 

 

 

 

Further pictures in Shore Birds Gallery