A migratory bird broke world record by flying 13,560 kilometres continuously across the Pacific for 11 days without landing even once. This peculiar behaviour of bar-tailed godwit was discovered after scientists tracked the remarkable migration using satellite transmitters attached to the birds.
The shorebird weighing only a few hundred grams, makes non-stop flight without stopping to eat, drink or rest on land even once. The research led by migration scientists Phil Battley and Jesse Conklin documented the record-breaking flight during the September 2020 migration season.
How a ‘bar-tailed godwit’ flew 13,560 km non-stop for 11 days
According to data from Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, the ‘bar-tailed godwit’ flew left southwest Alaska at the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta on 13 October and landed on 24 October — 11 days later at Ansons Bay on the island of Tasmania’s northeastern tip.
Bringing global attention to the astonishing endurance and navigational abilities of the bar-tailed godwit, the research suggests that this species of migratory bird undergoes dramatic physical changes to prepare for the long flight. Prior to the ground-breaking non-stop flight, it significantly increases its body weight by storing fat, which serves as the primary fuel driving their journey. In preparation for the journey, some birds almost double their body weight.
Making space for more fat reserves to be stored, this bird takes on this extreme journey by shrinking parts of its digestive system. The size of its intestines and liver also goes down in size. This makes the bird rely on its own gut to make room for fat reserves that powers its wings for nearly two weeks straight.
Furthermore, the brain of bar-tailed godwit doesn’t fully sleep during this long journey. According to the research, half of the brain remains active while the other half rests during the 11-day long flight. The brain alternates in shifts mid-flight at altitude over the open Pacific.
The godwit navigates with magnetic field sensitivity as it is simultaneously unconscious during the flight. These physiological changes help bar-tailed godwit in turning into highly efficient long-distance flyers. One of the longest such journeys recorded till date is the Alaska-to-Australia migration.
“Whether this is an accident, whether this bird got lost or whether this is part of a normal pattern of migration for the species, we still don’t know,” AP quoted BirdLife Tasmania convenor Eric Woehler as saying, who was a part of the research project.