Black-tailed godwit at Farlington marshes, Langstone harbour.
Tall waders with an extraordinarily long beak, black-tailed godwits are social birds, forming large flocks and pairing for life. The small population of breeding birds in the UK nests mainly on wet grasslands in the Fens of eastern England, but 97% of their wetland habitat has been lost to agriculture.
Black-tailed godwits became extinct in the UK in the 1800s, eventually returning in the 1940s and increasing to a peak of 65 breeding pairs in the 1970s. Today, however, there are fewer than 60 pairs breeding in England, putting them on the Red List of birds of highest conservation concern in the UK.
We're working with the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) on the six-year Project Godwit to increase the population of breeding black-tailed godwits in the UK. But with this species already struggling here, a further threat to them in the important Tagus Estuary could mean fewer birds returning to the UK to breed, making the battle to save this species even harder.
Black-tailed godwit at Farlington marshes, Langstone harbour.
Tall waders with an extraordinarily long beak, black-tailed godwits are social birds, forming large flocks and pairing for life. The small population of breeding birds in the UK nests mainly on wet grasslands in the Fens of eastern England, but 97% of their wetland habitat has been lost to agriculture.
Black-tailed godwits became extinct in the UK in the 1800s, eventually returning in the 1940s and increasing to a peak of 65 breeding pairs in the 1970s. Today, however, there are fewer than 60 pairs breeding in England, putting them on the Red List of birds of highest conservation concern in the UK.
We're working with the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) on the six-year Project Godwit to increase the population of breeding black-tailed godwits in the UK. But with this species already struggling here, a further threat to them in the important Tagus Estuary could mean fewer birds returning to the UK to breed, making the battle to save this species even harder.