THE BAR-TAILED GODWIT (LIMOSA LAPPONICA) BREEDS DISCONTINUOUSLY ACROSS A VAST EXPANSE OF TUNDRA FROM ALASKA WEST TO SCANDINAVIA AND SPENDS THE NONBREEDING SEASON IN COASTAL AREAS OF THE EASTERN HEMISPHERE FROM NEW ZEALAND TO WESTERN AFRICA (CRAMP AND SIMMONS 1983, HIGGINS AND DAVIES 1996). RECENT AUTHORITIES RECOGNIZE THREE TO FIVE SUBSPECIES OF THE BAR-TAILED GODWIT (HIGGINS AND DAVIES 1996, PIERSMA ET AL. 1996, ENGELMOER AND ROSELAAR 1998, DICKINSON 2003, CLEMENTS ET AL. 2013, DICKINSON AND REMSEN 2013). HERE WE FOLLOW DICKINSON AND REMSEN (2013) IN RECOGNIZING FIVE SUBSPECIES (LISTED FROM WEST TO EAST BY BREEDING DISTRIBUTION): L. L. LAPPONICA (LINNAEUS, 1758; TYPE LOCALITY SWEDISH LAPLAND), L. L. TAYMYRENSIS ENGELMOER AND ROSELAAR, 1998 (NEAR LAKE TAYMYR, CENTRAL SIBERIA), L. L. MENZBIERI PORTENKO, 1936 (INDIGIRKA RIVER DELTA, EASTERN SIBERIA), L. L. ANADYRENSIS ENGELMOER AND ROSELAAR, 1998 (MARKOVO, RUSSIAN FAR EAST), AND L. L. BAUERI NAUMANN, 1836 (NORFOLK ISLAND, TASMAN SEA). THESE DIFFER IN SIZE (E.G., BILL AND WING LENGTH; PORTENKO 1936, HIGGINS AND DAVIES 1996, ENGELMOER AND ROSELAAR 1998, TOMKOVICH 2010) AND PLUMAGE (E.G., EXTENT OF VENTRAL RED FEATHERING IN BREEDING PLUMAGE AND EXTENT OF RED BREEDING FEATHERS ON THE MANTLE AND SCAPULARS; RYNN 1982). HOWEVER, GIVEN THE DIFFICULTIES IN DISTINGUISHING SUBTLE DIFFERENCES AMONG THESE CHARACTERISTICS IN THE FIELD, WE FOCUS ON THE MORE DISCERNIBLE VARIATION OF THE RUMP, LOWER BACK, AND AXILLARIES (CRAMP AND SIMMONS 1983, ENGELMOER AND ROSELAAR 1998, MCCAFFERY AND GILL 2001, TOMKOVICH 2010). AT THE WESTERN END OF THE SPECIES’ BREEDING DISTRIBUTION—FROM FENNOSCANDIA TO THE KANIN PENINSULA IN RUSSIA—NOMINATE LAPPONICA SHOWS AN UNPATTERNED WHITE RUMP AND LOWER BACK WITH A FEW DARK THIN STREAKS (THE RUMP CONTRASTING GREATLY WITH THE DARK OF THE REST OF THE DORSAL SURFACE) AND AXILLARIES WITH MINIMAL DARK BARRING (NIEBOER ET AL. 1985, HIGGINS AND DAVIES 1996, ENGELMOER AND ROSELAAR 1998). AT THE OTHER EXTREME, THE ALASKA-BREEDING SUBSPECIES BAUERI HAS A UNIFORMLY DARK DORSUM, INCLUDING THE RUMP AND LOWER BACK, AND AXILLARIES EXTENSIVELY BARRED DARK (HIGGINS AND DAVIES 1996, ENGELMOER AND ROSELAAR 1998, TOMKOVICH 2010). SUBSPECIES MENZBIERI, TAYMYRENSIS, AND ANADYRENSIS REPRESENT STEPS OF CLINAL VARIATION IN PLUMAGE BETWEEN LAPPONICA AND BAUERI, MOST NOTABLY IN THE RUMP AND LOWER BACK (FIGURE 1; ENGELMOER AND ROSELAAR 1998, TOMKOVICH 2010). SUBSPECIFIC LIMITS OF THE POPULATIONS OF SIBERIA AND THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST ARE IN NEED OF FURTHER STUDY AND CLARIFICATION (MCCAFFERY AND GILL 2001, MLODINOW AND AANERUD 2006, TOMKOVICH 2008, 2010).