We conduct long-term demographic studies on Black-tailed Godwits migrating along the East Atlantic Flyway.
Friesland
An overview of our Netherlands-based research on the demography of Black-tailed Godwits, can be found on our Black-tailed Godwit project website of the University of Groningen (“De Grutto Monitor 2016”).
West-Africa
We also study Black-tailed Godwits in their non-breeding areas in southern Europe and Africa. In November 2014 we embarked upon our first expedition to the wintering grounds in West-Africa, financially supported by BirdLife Netherlands, and since then we visited the area two to three times per year. We aim to set up a demographic research project in this area in close cooperation with local scientists, volunteers and conservation organizations. The latest expedition took us again to the Casamance, Senegal, from 27 August – 6 September 2018. The report by Jos Hooijmeijer, Ruth Howison and Idrissa Ndiaye of the 2018 Senegal-Casamance Expedition can be downloaded here. It includes detailed re-sighting reports of each observed colour-marked Black-tailed Godwit.
Tracking
Since 2013 we have been tracking Black-tailed Godwits on their annual migrations. You can follow their travels on the King of the Meadow website.