From Opus

Photo by A. Meir
Eilat, Israel

Limosa limosa

[edit] Identification

Straight, flesh-coloured bill with dark tip
Greyish legs
Summer Adult Cinnamon-pink head, neck and breast. Brown, streaked black, upperparts. White wing-bar and dark wing tips. The white tail has a black bar at the tip. Belly white, marked with black.
Winter Adult The pink parts become greyish, upperparts greyer and the belly loses the streaks.

Photo by Helios
Breeding plumage
Minsmere July 2008

[edit] Similar Species

Bar-tailed Godwit whose bill has a slightly upcurved tip.

[edit] Distribution

Breeds in northern Palearctic; winters to southern Africa, southern Asia and Australia.

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Subspecies¹

• L. l. islandica:

• breeds Iceland, Faroe Islands and Shetland Islands; winters to south-western Europe

• L. l. limosa:

• breeds western Palearctic; winters to sub-Saharan Africa and India

• L. l. melanuroides:

• breeds eastern Palearctic; winters to south-eastern Asia, Philippines and Australia

[edit] Habitat

Breeds on temperate freshwater wetlands with open grassland. Winters on estuaries, mudflats and sandy shores. Also freshwater margins.

Photo by john-henry
Portugal January 2009

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Flight

Fast and energetic. Outline cross-like

[edit] Diet

The diet includes insects, worms, snails, insects, crustaceans, and parts of aquatic plants.

[edit] Breeding

They nest on the ground, usually in short vegetation, laying 3-6 eggs.

[edit] Vocalisation

Flight Call: "wicka-wicka-wicka"

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Animalpictures
3. Collins Pocket Guide to British Birds 1966
4. Collins Field Guide 5th Edition

• List of references

[edit] External Links