Godwit, E. Ireland (1 Viewer)

Taken on July 2.

From Collins, I reckoned it to be an adult Black-Tailed, and from the richness and extent of the red, possibly Islandica. I don't know which of the races would be most common in Ireland during the summer and would welcome any thoughts.

thanks

Andrew

Yes, Black-tailed. Anything other than Islandica would I think be a rarity in Ireland.

SteveClifton said:

Yes, Black-tailed. Anything other than Islandica would I think be a rarity in Ireland.

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Thanks Steve. Yep wasn't sure if that was also the case in summer.

Hi there,

SteveClifton said:

Yes, Black-tailed. Anything other than Islandica would I think be a rarity in Ireland.

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This is correct. Just to clarify how much of a rarity, suffice it to say that, as things stand, there are just two accepted records of nominate limosa for the entire island of Ireland, both of which exist as specimens and were identified to taxon based on measurements alone. The measurements depend on the birds having been sexed correctly, of course, due to some overlap between male limosa and female islandica (females having, for example, longer bills in all godwits), and these birds are due a review.
There is also a pending claim of one in the White's Marsh area near Clonakilty, Co. Cork during April 2017. Some images of this bird can be seen online at http://www.irishbirding.com/birds/we...ed_Godwit.html (plus there are further images from later dates). I stress that this is pending, it hasn't been accepted as limosa yet.
For completeness' sake, there are, of course, no accepted records (or claims, that I am aware of) of the east Asian melanuroides for Ireland, and, unless I am mistaken, there are no accepted records of this taxon for anywhere in the Western Palearctic as yet?
Regards,
Harry

Thank you for that Harry.
So if I have this right, Godwits that actually breed in Europe (except Iceland) are Limosa, whereas those in Ireland are Islandica in winter, with a few non-breeding Islandica stayovers in summer.

pianoman said:

Thank you for that Harry.
So if I have this right, Godwits that actually breed in Europe (except Iceland) are Limosa, whereas those in Ireland are Islandica in winter, with a few non-breeding Islandica stayovers in summer.

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Yes, except that both breed in Britain in very small numbers - a handful of limosa in southeast England, and a handful of islandica in northern Scotland. Not sure if a few islandica might also be breeding in northwestern Norway? :t:

A very small few islandica occasionally breed in Ireland also, though there's no actual population to speak of.

HH75 said:

A very small few islandica occasionally breed in Ireland also, though there's no actual population to speak of.

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Thanks all. I'll keep an eye out for a partner, just in case!