Bar-tailed Godwit
Limosa lapponica

Bar-tailed Godwits (often abbreviated to 'Barwit' in birding circles) are a common wader in Australia, where they spend the northern winter having arrived from Asia and Siberia. They are large birds at 37-45 cm in length with the females being a little larger than the males. Bar-tailed Godwits have one of the longest non-stop migrations in the world with birds having been record as flying directly from Alaska to New Zealand, more than 11,500 km and taking nine days - a massive achievement for a bird that only weighs a few hundred grams. They are quite similar to the Black-tailed Godwit, which has a longer bill, longer legs and is a more uniform brown all over in non-breeding plumage.
 

1: Cairns Esplanade, Qld, 16/10/2011.