Shorebird of the Year
Every year a shorebird species is selected as the ‘Shorebird of the Year’ to highlight the conservation challenges and to learn more about the species itself. The selected shorebird can be either a critically endangered species or a good representative of a global conservation issue. News about the actual or former 'Shorebird of the Year' species is regularly shared on our social media channels throughout the year.
2019 – Bar-tailed Godwit
The Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica) is one of the toughest migrants of all shorebird species with incredible capability and precision of non-stop flight over open seas. Like other Arctic shorebird species, Bar-tailed Godwit populations are under threat mainly connected to global climate change but more importantly to the disappearance of important coastal staging sites.
The conservation status of Bar-tailed Godwit from Least Concern has recently been elevated to Near Threatened due to continued population declines.
As around 45% of all the Arctic breeding shorebird populations are declining, so it is a sensible choice to select this beautiful tundra breeder and an exceptional migrant as the 2019 'Shorebird of the Year'.
The Bar-tailed Godwit will represent the declining shorebird populations around the entire Arctic in the next 12 months.
