A 12,000-kilometre non-stop round-the-world flight from Alaska to New Zealand would tire out even the most seasoned air traveller, without the help of a snack, a nap or some distracting entertainment. For the male bar-tailed godwit, on the other hand, it’s a piece of cake.
© Provided by National Post
Scientists believe the bar-tailed godwit does not sleep on its long journeys, despite flapping its wings non-stop
Scientists say the bird has set a new world record for avian non-stop flight, after tracking its route over 11 days from southwest Alaska to a bay near Auckland, flying at speeds of up to 55 km/h.
“They are designed like a jet fighter. Long, pointed wings and a really sleek design which gives them a lot of aerodynamic potential,” Dr. Jesse Conklin told the Guardian of the bird’s feat. Conklin is a scientist with the Global Flyaway Network , a worldwide partnership between researchers who study epic migratory patterns.
Researchers at the Pūkorokoro Miranda Shorebird Centre, southeast of Auckland, had caught and tagged the bird and 20 others in late 2019. The bird, labelled as 4BBRW due to the blue, blue, red and then white rings on its legs, had been fitted with a satellite tag on its back. Scientists say the bird, along with four others, left from the Alaskan mudflats on Sept. 16, where they had feasted for two months on clams and worms.
The birds, according to the scientists, headed south over the Aleutian Islands and then onto the Pacific Ocean, passing over Hawaii and Fiji. Scientists believe strong easterly winds along the way prolonged the birds’ journey and pushed them towards Australia.
Scientists say the bird has set a new world record for avian non-stop flight, after tracking its route over 11 days from southwest Alaska to a bay near Auckland, flying at speeds of up to 55 km/h.
“They are designed like a jet fighter. Long, pointed wings and a really sleek design which gives them a lot of aerodynamic potential,” Dr. Jesse Conklin told the Guardian of the bird’s feat. Conklin is a scientist with the Global Flyaway Network , a worldwide partnership between researchers who study epic migratory patterns.
Researchers at the Pūkorokoro Miranda Shorebird Centre, southeast of Auckland, had caught and tagged the bird and 20 others in late 2019. The bird, labelled as 4BBRW due to the blue, blue, red and then white rings on its legs, had been fitted with a satellite tag on its back. Scientists say the bird, along with four others, left from the Alaskan mudflats on Sept. 16, where they had feasted for two months on clams and worms.
The birds, according to the scientists, headed south over the Aleutian Islands and then onto the Pacific Ocean, passing over Hawaii and Fiji. Scientists believe strong easterly winds along the way prolonged the birds’ journey and pushed them towards Australia.
© Getty Images The bar-tailed godwit has broken its own world record for avian flight after flying 12,200 km from Alaska to New Zealand.
“They are flying over open ocean for days and days in the mid-Pacific; there is no land at all. Then they get to New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea where there are quite a few islands and, we might be anthropomorphising, but it really looks like they start spotting land and sort of think: ‘Oh, I need to start veering or I will miss New Zealand’,” Conklin told the Guardian.
The satellite recorded a point-to-point flight of 12,854 kilometres, but scientists have estimated that the distance travelled will have been around 12,200 kilometres once rounding errors are accounted for. The previous longest non-stop flight on record was by a bird that flew 11,680 kilometres. That effort was recorded in 2007, and it was also by a bar-tailed godwit (on that occasion female).
While the male bird, which weighs between 190 grams and 400 grams, can double in size before a long flight, scientists say it’s also able to shrink its internal organs to lessen the carried load.
Scientists believe, but have not yet proven, that the birds do not sleep on their journey, despite flapping their wings non-stop. “They have an incredibly efficient fuel-to-energy rate,” Conklin said.
“There are other birds that make similar-scale flights of say 10,000 (kilometres) but there are not a whole load of places in the world where it is necessary,” Conklin said. “So it is not necessarily that this is the only bird capable of it – but it is the only bird that needs to do it.”
The route along the Pacific functions as an ‘ecological corridor,’ scientists suggest, mostly because it is relatively free of disease and predators. However, climate change could soon render it an unsuitable route, as the frequencies and strengths of the winds along the passage change.
“They are flying over open ocean for days and days in the mid-Pacific; there is no land at all. Then they get to New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea where there are quite a few islands and, we might be anthropomorphising, but it really looks like they start spotting land and sort of think: ‘Oh, I need to start veering or I will miss New Zealand’,” Conklin told the Guardian.
The satellite recorded a point-to-point flight of 12,854 kilometres, but scientists have estimated that the distance travelled will have been around 12,200 kilometres once rounding errors are accounted for. The previous longest non-stop flight on record was by a bird that flew 11,680 kilometres. That effort was recorded in 2007, and it was also by a bar-tailed godwit (on that occasion female).
While the male bird, which weighs between 190 grams and 400 grams, can double in size before a long flight, scientists say it’s also able to shrink its internal organs to lessen the carried load.
Scientists believe, but have not yet proven, that the birds do not sleep on their journey, despite flapping their wings non-stop. “They have an incredibly efficient fuel-to-energy rate,” Conklin said.
“There are other birds that make similar-scale flights of say 10,000 (kilometres) but there are not a whole load of places in the world where it is necessary,” Conklin said. “So it is not necessarily that this is the only bird capable of it – but it is the only bird that needs to do it.”
The route along the Pacific functions as an ‘ecological corridor,’ scientists suggest, mostly because it is relatively free of disease and predators. However, climate change could soon render it an unsuitable route, as the frequencies and strengths of the winds along the passage change.
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