What If the Bar-Tailed Godwit Can Fly Farther Than Any Bird?!
The bar-tailed godwit might be able to breath without its butt, but boy can it fly without stopping!
What: With a flight of 7,500 miles (12,070 km)he bar-tailed godwit holds the world record for nonstop avian migration!
Who: Since it's doubtful the bar-tailed godwit would have self-reported it's world record, the team of scientist at the Global Flyway Network recorded the feat.
When: When does the bar-tailed godwit take flight? Whenever summer is over: the bar-tailed godwit leaves its half-time home in Alaska at the end of its long summer to head to its other home in New Zealand on the underside of the Earth; then, the bar-tailed godwit returns when the New Zealand summer starts to set.
Where: The bar-tailed godwits fly back and forth from Alaska to New Zealand on a regular basis.
How: How fast does the bar-tailed godwit fly during its massive migration? Up to 55 miles per hour!
Why: Why does the bar-tailed godwit take flight? The bar-tailed godwit loves summer so much, it's willing to fly thousands of miles to stay there, so whenever winter is coming, the bar-tailed godwit hightails it out of one, globally extreme location to another.
Huh?: Wait, how can a bird fly for 11 days without sleeping or stopping?
“They have an incredibly efficient fuel-to-energy rate,” Jesse Conklin, a scientist with the Global Flyway Network, tells The Guardian. “They are designed like a jet fighter. [They have] long, pointed wings and a really sleek design, which gives them a lot of aerodynamic potential.” Smithsonian Magazine
Wow!: What if the bar-tailed godwit's ability to fly incredible distances isn't even its most remarkable ability?! In order to prepare for its nonstop flight, the bar-tailed godwit has adapted the ability to shrink some of its organs as it doubles its weight--mainly in fat--to provide fuel for its flight!
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