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Bar-tailed Godwit
Limosa lapponica
species of Scolopacidae

number longest
primary 10 per wing 149.5 - 175.5mm n=9
P9 (56%) P10 (44%)
secondary 18-19 per wing 104.5 - 122.5mm n=5
S15 (100%)
retrix 12
approx. 89.0mm n=1
R5 (100%)
wing length1 hand-wing-index1,2 (HWI) primaries-index wing length/longest primary ratio hand-wing-index/primaries-index ratio
194 - 235mm n=10 54 - 59% n=8 47 - 52% n=6 no data available no data available
detailed information

The wing length is measured on the flattened and straightened wing ("maximum chord") from the carpal joint to the tip of the longest primary feather, the so-called "Kleinschmidt-method".

combined data from:
Avonet1: 194 - 235mm n=10

The hand-wing-index, introduced by Kipp 1959, is calculated as the ratio of the hand length (difference between the length of the longest primary and the first secondary) to the wing length.

combined data from:
Avonet1: 54 - 59% n=8,
The primaries-index is calculated as the ratio of the longest primary feather length to the first (outermost) secondary. It is the equivalent of the hand-wing index for feather measurements. The wing length/longest primary ratio is calculated as the ratio of the wing length to the length of the longest primary feather. The hand-wing-index/primaries-index ratio is calculated as the ratio of the hand-wing index to the primaries-index.
1 Tobias, J. A., et al. (2022). AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds.
2 Kipp, Friedrich A.: "Der Handflügel-Index als flugbiologisches Maß", erschienen in "Vogelwarte - Zeitschrift für Vogelkunde", 1959, Band 20, Heft 1



specimens gallery

country allocations

extant

Afghanistan (vagrant) · Algeria · American Samoa · Angola · Armenia · Australia · Austria · Azerbaijan · Bahrain · Bangladesh · Belarus (vagrant) · Belgium · Benin · Bermuda (vagrant) · Botswana · Brazil (vagrant) · British Indian Ocean Territory · Brunei Darussalam · Bulgaria · Burundi (vagrant) · Cabo Verde · Cambodia · Cameroon · Canada · China · Christmas Island (vagrant) · Comoros · Congo · Congo, The Democratic Republic of the (vagrant) · Côte d'Ivoire · Croatia · Cyprus · Czechia · Denmark · Djibouti · Egypt · Equatorial Guinea (vagrant) · Eritrea · Estonia · Ethiopia · Faroe Islands (vagrant) · Fiji · Finland · France · French Southern Territories (vagrant) · Gabon · Gambia · Georgia · Germany · Ghana · Gibraltar (vagrant) · Greece · Guam · Guinea · Guinea-Bissau · Hong Kong · Hungary · Iceland · India · Indonesia · Iran, Islamic Republic of · Iraq · Ireland · Israel · Italy · Japan · Jordan (vagrant) · Kazakhstan · Kenya · Kiribati · Korea, Democratic People's Republic of · Korea, Republic of · Kuwait · Kyrgyzstan · Latvia · Lebanon (vagrant) · Liberia (vagrant) · Libya · Liechtenstein (vagrant) · Luxembourg (vagrant) · Madagascar · Malawi · Malaysia · Maldives · Malta (vagrant) · Marshall Islands · Mauritania · Mauritius (vagrant) · Mayotte · Mexico (vagrant) · Micronesia, Federated States of · Moldova, Republic of · Mongolia · Montenegro (vagrant) · Morocco · Mozambique · Namibia · Nauru · Netherlands · New Caledonia · New Zealand · Nigeria · Niue · North Macedonia · Northern Mariana Islands · Norway · Oman · Pakistan · Palau · Papua New Guinea · Philippines · Poland · Portugal · Puerto Rico · Qatar · Réunion (vagrant) · Romania (vagrant) · Russian Federation · Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha · Saint Pierre and Miquelon (vagrant) · Samoa · Sao Tome and Principe (vagrant) · Saudi Arabia · Senegal · Serbia (vagrant) · Seychelles · Sierra Leone · Singapore · Slovakia · Slovenia (vagrant) · Solomon Islands · Somalia · South Africa · Spain · Sri Lanka · Sudan · Svalbard and Jan Mayen (vagrant) · Sweden · Switzerland · Syrian Arab Republic · Taiwan, Province of China · Tanzania, United Republic of · Thailand · Timor-Leste · Togo · Tonga · Tunisia · Türkiye · Turkmenistan · Ukraine · United Arab Emirates · United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland · United States of America · Uzbekistan · Vanuatu · Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of (vagrant) · Viet Nam · Virgin Islands, U.S. (vagrant) · Western Sahara · Yemen · Zambia · Zimbabwe (vagrant) ·
source: IUCN 2025. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2025-1 <www.iucnredlist.org>
assessment data: |

Waders, gulls and auks

subspecies

  • L. l. baueri

distribution

conservation status

  • CITES
    not listed
  • Regulation (EG) Nr. 865/2006
    not listed
  • German Federal Nature Conservation Act §44
    protected