Black-tailed Godwits (Limosa limosa) in Southwest Spain from Rio Barbate to Rio Odiel, habitat description and finding ringed birds from 1 – 11 October 2021

The main goal of this week of fieldwork was to get as many resightings as possible in exactly the first half of October. The reason for the timing of this fieldwork was that in these two weeks one has the best chance to identify godwits that do not migrate to Africa at all, but stay in Europe for the entire non-breeding season. Based on tracks from geolocators and satellite tagged godwits we know now that godwits start returning from sub-Sahara Africa on a continuous scale between October and March, and that when the first ones are arriving the last ones are still on their way there. Thus, the first half of October is the best period for correct identification of godwits as a non-trans-Sahara-migrants; that is: the least chance to misidentify a bird. You could safely say that these birds winter in Europe but a trans-Sahara-migrant is not automatically a bird that winters in Africa!