Waterbirds: Walkers

Curlews, Whimbrel, Godwits

All have long bills; curved downwards in Whimbrel and curlews, upturned in godwits. Whimbrel sports a pale, median crown-strip and feeds more by picking, less by probing than the curlews and godwits. There are 2 curlew and 4 godwit species.

The Bar-tailed Godwit undertakes elliptical migration, involving long, nonstop flights across the Pacific Ocean; probably direct from Alaska to New Zealand and eastern Australia in boreal fall, and then a single stop-over during the return trip in spring.


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Avocets, Dowitchers

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Jacanas, Lapwings, Oystercatchers, Phalaropes, Plovers, Ruff, Turnstones, Woodcocks, Snipe