In the Rheiderland region of Lower Saxony, the Black-tailed Godwit (Limosa limosa) named Amilcar Cabral can currently be observed, and its story is extraordinary. The bird was equipped with a GPS transmitter in December 2025 in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa, as part of the LIFE IP GrassBirdHabitats project by an international team, and has since been tracked digitally via its location data. The bird is part of a sample of nine tagged Black-tailed Godwits in the wintering grounds, where the population at this time of year consists of many thousands of individuals.
The fact that one of these few tagged Godwits has turned up in Germany is remarkable – given that Black-tailed Godwits that spend the winter in Guinea-Bissau mainly breed in the Netherlands. It is all the more astonishing that this bird has now occupied a breeding site in a nature reserve in the Rheiderland. The bird left its wintering grounds on 14 January 2026 to begin its journey towards its breeding grounds. En route, the bird made stopovers lasting several days in Morocco, the Doñana National Park in Spain and the Marais de Bourage in France. The bird reached its breeding grounds in the Rheiderland on 1 April 2026. Since then, it has been moving back and forth between a grassland area inland and the Dollart. Its movements are primarily governed by a day-night cycle. However, the tide also plays a role, as the Dollart is presumably used not only as a roosting and resting area, but also for foraging at low tide. This highlights the species’ wide range of movement, as well as the importance of suitable resting and foraging areas within the breeding range.
There are also specific sightings from the site: On 22 April 2026 at 9.30 am, Amilcar Cabral was spotted and filmed in a territorial dispute with another Black-tailed Godwit. This is interpreted as an indication of possible territory formation. The colour ring combination (left: yellow over metal over black; right: red over yellow over red) was confirmed through a spotting scope.
Taken together, this presents a remarkable scenario: a bird from a very large winter population in West Africa is tagged as part of an international conservation project, travels several thousand kilometres and finally settles in a region where measures to protect meadow birds are being implemented. The fact that this may even lead to a breeding attempt on or near these areas underscores the importance of such interconnected conservation approaches along the entire migration route.
It remains to be seen how things will develop. The freely accessible tracking data (available via www.globalflywaynetwork.org, amongst other sources) makes it possible to continue tracking the bird’s movements.
