Races of Bar-tailed Godwit

On Cairns Esplanade this week I was watching a group of Bar-tailed Godwits that were showing very early stages of developing their spectacular breeding plumage. A Masked Lapwing took exception to them and chased them off. It was when the group took off that I noticed that one was completely different to the rest – instead of having a clear white rump and uppertail coverts this individuals were so heavily barred as to appear completely brown in colour. On looking through my on-line version of HBW I assume that this is of the race Limosa lapponica baueri which “breeds in NE Siberia, E of R Kolyma, to W Alaska; winters from China to New Zealand and some Pacific Is.” but does not specifically mention Australia in its wintering range. HBW mentions race Limosa lapponica menzbieri (an intermediate between L l lapponica and L l baueri) “N Siberia, between R Khatanga and Kolyma Delta; winters from SE Asia to NW Australia, and possibly E Australia.” This bird was so different in flight that I am sure I would have noticed them before if they were regular. My question / enquiry is what is the regularly recorded race in E Australia. Dom _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org