Bar Tailed Godwit Bird Creates History; Flies Non Stop from Alaska to Tasmania

A bar-tailed Godwit bird has created headlines by flying continuously non stop from Alaska to Tasmania, Australia without stopping. 

This amazing journey was completed in 11 days and one hour while covering 13,560 kilometres without stopping for food or rest. The journey of this five month old bird began on 13 October. 

The bird with the tag number 234684,was tracked by a 5G satellite tag that was attached to its lower back. 

After beginning its journey from Alaska,  the bar-tailed godwit, Limosa lapponica, landed on the shores of Ansos Bay in Tasmania on 23 October by making a 90 degree turn. These birds generally migrate to New Zealand. 

According to The Guinness World Records, “The distance covered is equivalent to two and a half trips between London and New York, or approximately one-third of the planet’s full circumference.”

This Godwit bird broke the record of another bird of the same species set in 2020 by over 217 miles. 

According to data from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology’s bird tracking project, the bird has flown across the pacific ocean, west of Hawaii. 

Eric Woehler of Birdlife Tasmania told Guinness World Records that the bird probably lost "half or more of its body weight during continuous day and night flight."

“Short-tailed shearwaters and mutton birds can land on the water and feed. If a Godwit land on water, it's dead. It doesn't have the webbing on its feet, it has no way of getting off. So if it falls onto the ocean's surface from exhaustion, or if bad weather forces it to land, that's the end.”

Scientists and bird enthusiasts have always been baffled by the bird’s navigation skills and its accurate sense of direction.