Bird migration is a complex and fascinating topic about which more and more is being discovered.  In the last few years, scientists have learned that one bird takes the gold for distance.

     The bar-tailed godwit, a shorebird slightly larger than a pigeon, flies every spring from its winter home on the New Zealand coast to its breeding ground in western and northern Alaska. 

     While many bird species fly great distances, the godwit, scientists have confirmed, makes each migration, a distance of more than 7,000 miles each way, without stopping!  That’s right.  No food, water, or rest for five to eight days, during which these sturdy birds fly, 24/7, mostly over open ocean, from New Zealand to Alaska in the spring, and back again in the fall.

     Scientists believe that the godwit flies farther without stopping than any other bird.

     Before the godwits leave New Zealand, beginning in early March, they prepare for their journey by eating and eating and eating.  Once they reach Alaska, they rest and mate.  Again they eat and eat to prepare for their flight back to New Zealand in the fall.  And a few days before they take off, the godwits even absorb part of their digestive system, which reduces their weight a little for the long flight.

     Not only do bar-tailed godwits have the stamina to make their long-distance flights without stopping, but they fly fast as well.  On their own steam, godwits can fly at about 45 mph.  But when they hitch onto the tails of typhoons, they can reach speeds of 100 mph!–April Moore

This entry was posted on Monday, January 26th, 2009 at 12:15 pm and is filed under Insights and Visions on the State of the Earth. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.