A young godwit flew 13,560 km without a single stop
A bar-tailed godwit crossed the Pacific from Alaska to Tasmania in eleven days without landing, eating, or sleeping on solid ground.
In October 2022 a juvenile bar-tailed godwit — barely five months old — left Alaska and flew 13,560 km (8,425 miles) straight across the Pacific Ocean to Tasmania. The journey took 11 days and 1 hour with no stops for food or rest, the longest non-stop flight ever recorded for any animal.
The physiology behind it is as extreme as the distance. Before departing, godwits gorge until fat makes up more than half their body weight, then shrink their gizzards and intestines “to almost nothing” because digestion is useless mid-ocean. Riding favourable tailwinds, they average roughly 56 km/h the entire way.
The bird departed Alaska on 13 October and reached Ansons Bay, Tasmania, on 24 October — having burned through its own organs to make the crossing.
There are no islands to rest on along that route, so the godwit has no choice but to fly the whole way in one continuous effort.
Sources & references
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