A single Bar-tailed Godwit stands on one leg feeding on the mudflats on the Cairns Esplanade in Far North Queensland in Australia.


The bar-tailed godwit (Limosa lapponica) is a large wader in the family Scolopacidae, which feeds on bristle-worms and shellfish on coastal mudflats and estuaries. It has distinctive red breeding plumage, long legs, and a long upturned bill. Bar-tailed godwits breed on Arctic coasts and tundra from Scandinavia to Alaska, and overwinter on coasts in temperate and tropical regions of the Old World, Australia, and New Zealand. The migration of the subspecies Limosa lapponica baueri across the Pacific Ocean from Alaska to New Zealand is the longest known non-stop flight of any bird, and also the longest journey without pausing to feed by any animal. The round-trip migration for this subspecies is over 29,000 km


Size: 7007px × 4671px
Location: Esplanade, Cairns, Far North Queensland, Australia
Photo credit: © Photography By Marco / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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