Animals / endurance-migration-of-bar-tailed-godwits
Facts about Endurance Migration of Bar-Tailed Godwits
- 05
A bar-tailed godwit tagged in Alaska in 2022 set a recorded distance record by flying over 13,500 kilometers nonstop to Tasmania.
- 04
During migration, bar-tailed godwits fly continuously for days while navigating thousands of kilometers using Earth's magnetic field and celestial cues.
- 03
The bar-tailed godwit holds the record for the longest nonstop flight of any bird, a feat tracked and confirmed using satellite telemetry.
- 02
Before undertaking this marathon flight, bar-tailed godwits shrink their digestive organs to reduce weight while enlarging fat stores to fuel the journey.
- 01
Bar-tailed godwits fly nonstop from Alaska to New Zealand each autumn, covering roughly 11,000 kilometers in about nine days without eating, drinking, or landing.