For the first time a new project is uncovering the journeys of one of the UK’s most internationally important migratory bird species, the Bar-tailed Godwit.
Hundreds of thousands of these long-legged and long-billed wading birds pass through the UK each year on migration, spotted in their largest numbers along our estuaries between November and February.
Despite weighing just 300 grams (the equivalent of half a dozen eggs or two oranges), the Bar-tailed Godwit has one of the longest migrations of all birds. Last year, one Bar-tailed Godwit set a new world record with a non-stop flight from Alaska to southern Australia over just 11 days.
Now, conservationists are seeing how our native counterpart compares, with GPS tagging shedding new light on where these birds travel and the vital role that England’s East Coast Wetlands – a potential Natural World Heritage Site - play in their survival.
