Black-tailed Godwit habitats
Introduction
In biology, habitat refers to the area and recources determined for a particular species by specific abiotic and biotic factors, where the species lives at one stage of its life cycle. For the Black-tailed Godwit, we distinguish between breeding, staging and wintering habitats.
Breeding habitat
In Lower Saxony the Black-tailed Godwit inhabits largely open wet lowland grasslands. When it arrives in March, the species is particularly attracted by short-grassed, partially waterlogged meadows and pastures. The vegetation should be species-rich and patchy and present a varied micro-relief in April. In May, when the chicks hatch, the soil should ideally still be wet. The herbaceous vegetation must not grow too quickly and densely. It is important that there is a high supply of easily available arthropods for the chicks during the crucial life phase of the first few weeks. It goes without saying that these meadows and pastures must not be mown, even in June.
At the same time, the breeding areas of the Black-tailed Godwit and other wetland breeding birds must be kept free of disturbance during the breeding season. There is no land use management, recreationists stay on the paths, dogs are kept on a lead.
An intense professional predation management supports successful hatching and fletching to increase the breeding success. A necessary precondition to succeed here is a prudent, careful and sustainable habitat management. For example, wooded areas, rows of trees, hedges and even individual trees and bushes should be removed wherever possible to prevent predators from finding places to reproduce, hide or perch.
Black-tailed Godwit adults leave the breeding sites after raising their chicks and most of the juveniles follow somewhat later end of June and July. This is the time, when farmers can start to harvest hay or bring their cattle on the grasslands. Most of the parcels will need a final cut in late summer or early autumn to get rid of overgrown vegetation or emerging woody plants in the border areas.
Staging habitat
Many of the breeding Black-tailed Godwits from Lower Saxony, and from northern Europe in general, have major staging sites in Portugal and Spain, with others used to a lesser extent.
In some years the Tagus estuary in Portugal can host up to 50% of the Western European breeding population of Black-tailed Godwits simultaneously. From December to late early March thousands of non-breeding Black-tailed Godwits rely on flooded rice fields to fuel the final phase of their migration to the breeding areas with rice seeds. Staging habitat usage in the Tagus estuary during the non-breeding season is essential for this species and the restoration and management of these wetlands is needed in order to reverse current populations decline.
This estuary operates as a “stepping stone” connecting European breeding sites with African non-breeding areas and providing a safe haven for Black-tailed Godwits and other migrants to rest and refuel, which is essential for their successful migration. Waders from the Tagus estuary will eventually end up in 30 countries and more than 300 Natura 2000 sites along the flyway, highlighting its fundamental role as a migratory hub in the East Atlantic Flyway. A number of key habitats for Black-tailed Godwits, including saltpans, lagoons and rice fields are currently degraded or without any management actions aimed at this species or any waterbird for more than a decade. Within this project these habitats will be restored, managed and optimized for the conservation of Black-tailed Godwits in this wetland. It will also produce recommendations so that such actions can be replicated and expanded across the flyway.
Pictures from a wintering habitat in West Africa
