A bird flies an ocean without landing
Satellite-tracked bar-tailed godwits fly nonstop from Alaska to New Zealand, more than 11,000 kilometres, in about eight or nine days.
Established2 min read
Gill and colleagues fitted transmitters. Birds left the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta or western Alaska and arrived in New Zealand or eastern Australia having never stopped. One 2022 track, a juvenile, exceeded 13,000 kilometres. Before departure they fatten until half their mass is fuel, and they shrink some organs to carry it.
The route uses winds. The physiology uses fat as both tank and metabolic water. Sleep, if it happens, is brief and unihemispheric. The track is the proof. The bird was a dot that did not touch down.
Caveats
- Not every individual makes the longest route. The species’ capacity is what was measured.
- ‘Nonstop’ means no landing. They still glide and they still sleep in some fashion.
Sources
- 1Gill R. E. et al.. Extreme Endurance Flights by Landbirds Crossing the Pacific Ocean. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 276, 2009.