There's no one on Earth like the Bar-Tailed Godwit! Listen to this discussion about how awesome she is!
The journey taken by the bar-tailed godwit
With its long, slightly upturned bill and sturdy body, the bar-tailed godwit does not look the most athletic of birds.
Yet this grey-brown wader has flown into the record books after an incredible feat of endurance saw one female bird complete an eight-day, non-stop journey over the Pacific Ocean, without feeding.
The bird, known as Miranda after the New Zealand village where she had been fitted with a satellite tracking device, covered 7,270 miles during a flight from Alaska to New Zealand. (Her earlier, northward journey had been made in stages.)
Because bar-tailed godwits cannot feed on the wing, Miranda had to stock up on clams and worms before setting off, doubling her body weight.
She had to flap her wings for the entire journey, maintaining speeds of between 30mph and 44mph, at altitudes of up to 6,500 ft.
Her record-breaking flight began on mudflats on the Kuskokwim River, in Alaska, from where she headed due south towards Hawaii.
Around 310 miles north of the islands, she altered course and headed for Fiji, then continued towards New Zealand's North Island. She finally set down at the mouth of the Piako River, near Miranda, 40 miles south of Auckland.
Bar-tailed godwits can also be seen in the British Isles, arriving in October from Scandinavia.
Dr Vicky Jones, from the UK-based Birdlife International, said: "For such a small bird to battle the elements and continue flying for that amount of time is incredible."
The flight has made Miranda a celebrity in New Zealand, with newspapers following her progress across the ocean and the bells of Christchurch Cathedral ringing when her arrival was confirmed.
Although swifts spend most of their life in the air, they are able to feed and drink while on the wing, and spend large parts of the time soaring on thermals. The godwit cannot feed while flying and must flap its wings all the way.
Another long-distance rival, the Arctic tern, migrates from the Arctic to wintering grounds at the opposite pole, but stops to feed.
Miranda's record also soars over the sedge warbler's 2,600-mile migration from Britain to Senegal and the red knot's 4,290-mile journey from Australia to China. Scientists from the US Geological Survey and Massey University, in New Zealand, have fitted £1,500 satellite transmitters to 28 godwits in New Zealand and Alaska since 2005, to monitor the possible spread of bird flu from Asia.
The devices act like aircraft "black box" flight data recorders, allowing scientists to view the birds' exact flight paths. Until the study was carried out, it was not known if the birds made the southbound journey directly across the ocean or whether they stopped along the coast of Asia.
Robert Gill, from the US Geological Survey, said: "There are other birds going long distances, but the godwit will be the champion for good. This is pretty much the longest possible route over the ocean."
