Migratory birds set the best travel goals. We aren’t kidding. Think about it! They are focussed on their destinations, don’t stay in one place for too long, gracefully travel for long hours without beating a sweat and look beautiful when doing so. Isn’t that amazing? Juvenile bar-tailed Godwit not just gave the Internet travel goals but also created a world record for flying 13,560 km non-stop from Alaska to Tasmania in Australia. Here’s more about it.
4-Month-Old Juvenile Bar-Tailed Godwit Flies 13,560 Km Non-Stop
A four-month-old juvenile bar-tailed Godwit broke the world record in October 2022 for flying an incredible distance of 13,560 km from Alaska to Tasmania, non-stop for 11 days. The earlier record stood at 350 km in 2022 by a bar-tailed Godwit. With this amazing feat, just a four-month-old bird actually flew a distance that’s equivalent to one-third of the Earth’s circumference.
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The juvenile bar-tailed Godwit had a 5G satellite tag attached to its lower back or rump before its journey on October 13, 2022. This helped researchers track its amazing journey. This particular bird is also known as B6 or as “234684”, its identification number. While the birding community always knew it to be a strong flier no one imagined it could fly a whopping 13,560 km at one stretch. Moreover, it was supposed to end its journey in New Zealand. But for some reason took a 90-degree turn and flew to Ansons Bay in Australia’s Tasmania.
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These Are Shore Birds Which Can’t Land On Water
How can you identify this incredible bird? Well, the bar-tailed godwit is long-billed and has long legs. it has a white patch that goes along its rump, slowly narrowing. It’s light brown in colour with black and white feathers. These birds are usually spotted in India along the shores of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Kerala, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, West Bengal, Tripura, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
They feed on marine snails, shrimps, worms and shellfish. These are shore birds, so that’s the reason this juvenile bar-tailed Godwit probably flew the entire stretch in one go as it couldn’t land on water. The bird doesn’t have webbed feet, so stopping on water would lead to its death. But imagine flying such long distances, bearing extreme weather changes, yet stopping at nothing. This is truly inspiring!
Cover Image Courtesy: Wikipedia