Resumen de Geographical origin, return rates, and movements of the near-threatened black-tailed godwits "Limosa limosa" staying at a major stopover site of Iberia
José Antonio Masero Osorio, Francisco Santiago Quesada, Juan Manuel Sánchez Guzmán, José María Abad Gómez-Pantoja, María Auxiliadora Villegas Sánchez, Noelia Albano Pérez
Most black-tailed godwits Limosa limosa en route from West Africa to breeding grounds cross Iberia (Spain and Portugal), but there are fundamental aspects of the stopover ecology of black-tailed godwits in Iberia which remain unknown. Geographical origin, return rates, and movements of the near-threatened black-tailed godwits staying at Extremadura's rice fields, a major Iberian stopover site, was investigated. Godwits were captured with mist-nets from January to early March (2005 - 2008), and individually marked with a combination of colour rings and lime flag (see codes in www.cr-birding.be). Most black-tailed godwits staying in Extremadura's rice fields belonged to the declining subspecies limosa, with Extremadura probably being a crucial final take-off site for most of them. A significant percentage (3 - 14 %) of subspecies islandica staying in Extremadura was also found. Return rates averaged 35.9 %, and godwit movements between Iberian stopover sites were documented. The movements of colour-ringed godwits showed that the main SW Iberian sites probably function as a single functional unit, and therefore the loss of some of these Iberian sites may put at risk the long-term viability of the Western European population of black-tailed godwit.
