Bird logs world’s longest non-stop flight from Alaska to Tasmania
A juvenile bar-tailed godwit has broken the longest non-stop flight time by any bird, flapping hard the whole way for 13,560km and shedding half its tiny body weight flying from Alaska to Tasmania
READING LEVEL: GREEN
A young godwit – a gangly* wading* bird – has set a new world record for the longest non-stop flight by any bird.
The juvenile* bar-tailed godwit flew from Alaska* to northeast Tasmania via a route stretching at least 13,560km, in 11 days, 1 hour, arriving on October 24.
Birders* say this astonishing effort – tracked via satellite – smashes the previous non-stop distance record of 13,050km, set by an adult male bar-tailed godwit in 2021.
“It is a truly remarkable achievement,” said Birdlife Tasmania convener* Dr Eric Woehler.
“Albatross* can fly 20,000km in a foraging* trip, but they can land on the water and feed along the way. Shearwaters* migrate* from Tasmania to Alaska, but they stop along the way.
“This is a non-stop flight and godwits are active flyers – not gliders like albatross – so powered by flapping the whole way through for 13,000km.”
Dr Woehler said satellite tracking of the species, which is relatively small with a wingspan under one metre, started about 12 to 13 years ago, revealing their ability to migrate non-stop from Alaska to Australasia.
They achieved this by fattening up before departure and essentially burning half their body weight as power during their epic voyage south.
“They weigh at most maybe half a kilo when they take off and they have to be really super-efficient in the use of those body reserves,” Dr Woehler said.
The tracked birds were fitted with a tiny solar panel and GPS chip on a 5g harness.
And while it would be unsporting to lessen the new world record holder’s achievement, it may be down to the youngster getting lost or making a navigational* error.
After leaving Alaska, the bird initially appeared to head towards Japan rather than Australasia, before moving to a more southerly route.
The species is known to migrate annually from Alaska to Australia and New Zealand for the southern summer, but it is not known if this bird stopped at Ansons Bay, Tasmania, due to exhaustion – or a preference for this side of the ditch*.
Its satellite track showed a sudden shift west when it arrived off Tasmania’s northeast tip. “When the bird took that right-hand turn, it must have been close to the end of its bodily reserves and must be conscious in some way of its capacity to continue,” Dr Woehler said.
“So it may well be it took advantage of prevailing* easterlies* … as a way of surviving.”
GLOSSARY
- gangly: tall, thin and awkward, lanky, skinny, wiry
- wading: walking through water to a certain height
- juvenile: young, not fully grown, still developing into an adult
- Alaska: largest US state located on the extreme northwest of North America
- birders: bird-watchers, people who observe and identify wild birds in their natural habitats
- convener: person who arranges meetings between an official group of people
- albatross: very large white seabird
- foraging: moving from place to place looking for things to eat or use
- shearwaters: oceanic birds related to petrels that skim close to the waves in flight
- migrate: when an animal travels to a different place, usually when a season changes
- navigational: relating to systems that help find a way from one place to another
- the ditch: slang term for the Tasman Sea, separating Australia and New Zealand
- prevailing: existing in a particular place or at a particular time
- easterlies: winds coming from the east
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QUICK QUIZ
- What is the full name of the bird species that set the new world record?
- How long was the flight and what was the total flight time?
- How long ago did satellite tracking of this bird species begin?
- What proportion of their weight do they burn up in flight?
- Tracked birds are fitted with what two things?
LISTEN TO THIS STORY
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Godwit record feat
What lessons could we learn from this young godwit for humans wanting to complete a long distance event such as a marathon, climbing a mountain, or any other sporting or endurance activity?
How does the godwit prepare and achieve this feat of flying non-stop for 13,560km?
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Time: allow 20 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English; Science; Health and Physical Education; Critical and Creative Thinking
2. Extension
Why does this bird species migrate from Alaska to Australia or New Zealand?
Why do you think this particular bird stopped at Tasmania rather than other parts of Australia?
Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English; Geography; Critical and Creative Thinking
VCOP ACTIVITY
Read with Kung Fu punctuation
Pair up with the article between you and stand up to make it easy to demonstrate your Kung Fu punctuation.
Practise reading one sentence at a time. Now read it again, while acting out the punctuation as you read.
Read and act three sentences before swapping with your partner.
Take two turns each.
Now ask your partner to read a sentence out loud while you try and act out the punctuation. Can you keep up? Swap over?
Try acting out two sentences – are you laughing yet?