Record-Breaking Bird Just Flew Nonstop From Alaska to New Zealand

[USALiberal]

https://gizmodo.com/record-breaking-bird-just-flew-nonstop-from-alaska-to-n-1845358655

A conservation group has tracked a migration for the ages, in which a male bar-tailed godwit flew from Alaska to New Zealand without taking a single break.

As the Guardian reports, the bar-tailed godwit departed southwestern Alaska on September 16 and arrived 11 days later at a bay near Auckland, New Zealand. The bird, designated 4BBRW (for the blue, blue, red, and white identification rings attached to its legs), was tracked by Global Flyway Network, a conservation group that studies long-distance migrating shorebirds.

Bar-tailed godwits (Limosa lapponica) are exceptional birds, featuring some mind-bogglingly long migratory routes. The wading birds spend their summers in the arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere (where they breed) and then fly south for the winter, in some cases as far as Australia and New Zealand. Bar-tailed godwits are fast and lightweight, with wingspans around 28 to 31 inches (70 to 80 cm) long.

Bar-tailed godwits looking to relocate from Alaska to New Zealand must make an epic flight over the Pacific Ocean. For 4BBRW, this resulted in a record-breaking nonstop flight, in which the bird flew 7,987 miles (12,854 km), reports the Guardian. The bird was equipped with a 5gm satellite tag, which allowed for GPS tracking. The scientists said the total length of the journey is probably closer to 7,581 miles (12,200 km) after accounting for rounding errors.

more at link!

[bigtree]

1. wonder if it can re-fuel in the air

...eating flying bugs?

[bigtree]

10. answering my own question

... swifts eat bugs in mid-air, so that explains why they don’t starve.

https://www.conservationmagazine.org/2013/10/birds-fly-for-six-months-nonstop/

[Hugin]

12. Hummingbirds do, too.

A fact that wasn't known until about 10 years ago.

[bigtree]

15. I did just see Attenborough say that

...neat.

[diverdownjt]

18. The migration pattern is across the Pacific ocean....

not a lot of bugs out there....alaska>new zealand..of course it could fly over islands and stock up..

[MLAA]

14. That made me smile

[A HERETIC I AM]

2. Amazing.

Yanno....I really do think we humans should try and save this planet, if it isn't too much trouble.

Animals can really humble you.

Elephants can hear over the course of scores of miles through their feet

Orcas are almost as diverse as Humans, with different languages that are heard as foreign from one group to another, they pass down specific hunting skillsets generation to generation, and those differ by pod and sub-species.

Horses have a sense of humor and can be downright intentionally silly!

Cattle can and will show joy and affection to humans

Free Range Pigs collect flowers and decorate their living spaces with them

Domesticated Geese will protect other domestic fowl from predators.

And on and on and on.

An 8000 mile flight, huh?

And I'll bet it didn't even get a cocktail before takeoff.

[USALiberal]

4. +1000! nt

[brer cat]

3. That is amazing! nt

[lagomorph777]

5. Astounding.

[Hugin]

6. That's an average speed of 28.72 mph (46.21 kph).

A reasonably good clip.

Must've had a tail wind.

[USALiberal]

7. Wow! nt

[Hugin]

8. Keep in mind that's the mean and possibly the median speed of the bird...

Which means it could have been going double that speed for stretches of it's journey.

or 60 mph (92 kph)

It was hauling teeny tiny feather covered butt.

I don't know what the typical migration rate of these birds are, but, considering their small size and the fact they are carried along by air currents this may say more about climactic conditions in general than any particular birdy.

[Hugin]

9. What they look like...

The bar-tailed godwit (Limosa lapponica)

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar-tailed_godwit. (Please, consider dropping off a donation to the Wikipedia while you're there.)

[BainsBane]

11. Now that's a perfect physical specimen.

[Hugin]

13. I can see it strutting around on the beach flexing...

Kicking sand in all of the pudgy penguin faces.

[movingviolation]

16. But was it laden or un-laden?

[Hugin]

17. It was laden a nest once.

I presume.

[ihas2stinkyfeet]

19. laden by the tracking thingie.