The bar-tailed godwit (Limosa lapponica) is a large and strongly migratory 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 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 . Taxonomy The bar-tailed godwit was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Scolopax limosa. It is now placed with three other godwits in the genus Limosa that was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. The genus name Limosa is from Latin and means "muddy", from limus, "mud", referring to its preferred habitat. The specific name lapponica refers to Lapland. The English term "godwit" was first recorded in about 1416–17 and may be an imitation of the bird's call, or be derived from the Old English "god whit", meaning "good creature", perhaps referring to its eating qualities. Its English name is taken from the black-and-white barred tail and upper tail coverts in this species. In French it is known as barge rousse, Russian maliy veretennik, Inuit chiuchiuchiak, Yup'ik tevatevaaq, and Māori kūaka. Four subspecies are recognised: L. l. lapponica (Linnaeus, 1758) – breeds from northern Scandinavia east to the Yamal Peninsula; winters western coasts of Europe and Africa from the British Isles and the Netherlands south to South Africa, and also around the Persian Gulf. Smallest subspecies, males up to , females to L. l. taymyrensis Engelmoer & Roselaar, 1998 – breeds in central Siberia from the Yamal Peninsula east to the Anabar River delta; winters in southwest Asia and coasts of Africa to South Africa L. l. menzbieri – Portenko, 1936 – breeds northeastern Asia from the Anabar River east to the Kolyma River delta; winters in southeast Asia and northwest Australia L. l. baueri – Naumann, 1836 – breeds in northeast Siberia to north and west Alaska; winters in China and Australasia. Largest subspecies. (includes anadyrensis) Description