Originally found 01 October 2023 by Sam Talarigo, this juvenile was reasonably cooperative today, especially when the Marbled Godwits all flew off the mudflats to their high tide roost on a grassy area near the observation tower. I judged this one to be a female based on its relatively large size and long bill. They are a rarity in California and this appears to be the sixth Alameda County record. Most Bar-tailed Godwits occurring in North America are of this large dark-backed race, "L. l. baueri" which breeds in Alaska. Studies of radio-tracked birds found this population undergoes the longest known non-stop migration of any bird. Apparently they take advantage of major pressure ridges to sling-shot across the Pacific, covering distances of up to 11,000 km (7,200 statute miles) in nine days (Gill et al 2009). They lose up to half their body weight during these marathon non-stop migrations. Sadly, the future of these extraordinary migrants has been imperiled by reclamation projects in the Yellow Sea destroying key migration staging areas for shorebirds in East Asia. This godwit's conservation status was upgraded from "least concern" in 2012 to "near threatened" in 2015 by IUCN as their population continues to plummet.
