A stripe - tailed godwit ( Limosa lapponica ) has been memorialise flying   13,560 klick ( 8,435 miles ) between Alaska and Ansons Bay , Tasmania , the longest non - stop migratory flight ever measure . The odyssey is not only a demonstration of birds ’ astounding capabilities , but has given scientists and environmentalist a opportunity to highlight the threats to these fly adventurers ’ endurance .

godwit are one of 100 of bird species that breed during the brief but bountiful Alaskan summertime , before escaping the bitter wintertime . Some go only as far as the tropics , but others go as far as Australia or New Zealand . It ’s an epic journeying for any bird , but the godwits do n’t even lay off on route .

ThePūkorokoro Miranda Naturalists ' Trusthave been using satellite tracker to monitor the round trip of the New Zealand detail for years . A 13,050 kilometre ( 8,435 geographical mile ) disc was set last twelvemonth . Earlier this year however , a tracker was place on a juvenile yield in the Alaskan outflow .

rather of heading for New Zealand , however , this bird made a sharp good crook in the Tasman Sea to land in Tasmania . The trajectory took 11 day .

Sean Dooleyof BirdLife Australia secern IFLScience the baueri godwit subspecies has a wide mountain chain over coastal eastern Australia , but Tasmania is about as far from their reproduction grounds as they go . Consequently , if the fresh record is ever broken , it ’s unlikely to be by much .

Nevertheless , this hoot probably was n’t some lone paladin . Godwits make the journey in substantial flocks , both for rubber from predators and so they can take twist cruising in each other ’s wake , like cyclists in a peloton .

Curiously , while most of the godwits vanish in the south in a undivided journeying , they ’re one of many species that take a long route back up the slide of Asia , lay off in the Yellow Sea to refuel . exploitation in the region , particularly legal injury to coastal flat , has had a devastating effect on migratory hiss coinage . The baueri godwits are doing relatively well , classify only as jeopardise . However , their closelipped relative the menzbieri , which migrate from Siberia to Northwestern Australia , are considered critically jeopardize .

Although theRamsar Conventionis supposed to protect wetlands used by migrant birds , BirdLife Australia is run to save one of theL. lapponica baueri’sprime Australian soil , under threat from aproposed development .

artificial satellite trailing has transformed our knowledge of raspberry migrations . “ We used to think they stopped on route , ” Dooley told IFLScience . “ But there are not many places to shore ” mid - Pacific . The record breakers did fly over Vanuatu , however , but Dooley observe that the lands the birds cross on route , “ Are generally not good feeding places for these birds . ” However , godwits have been spotted on Pacific Islands , presumptively gathering strength to restart the journeying .

Trackers ca n’t answer the great whodunit of how godwits ( like other migratory coinage ) know which mode to go . Whether the record ledgeman was always lead for Tasmania , or if it got divert from New Zealand , is similarly cryptic . “ They ’re decidedly responsive to atmospheric circumstance , ” Dooley said . “ We ’ve fancy some heading into Moreton Bay and encountering big conditions and backtracking a long way . ”

The birds feed on bristleworms and mollusc living in the mud of coastal wetlands , packing on so much adipose tissue that they must reduce the size of their digestive reed organ when ready to fly . Adults forget Alaska 4 - 6 weeks before the juveniles . Whatever the welfare to those leave early , those workweek with less contest for food credibly give the untested skirt the chance to fuel up for the larger-than-life trajectory , Dooley noted .

The timing was ideal for the bar - tailed godwit ’s campaign in thefiercely foughtNew ZealandBird of the Yearcontest .

H / TThe Guardian .