Godwit continues to rack up air-miles
New from BirdLife International
17-09-2007
Godwit continues to rack up air-miles
E7, the Bar-tailed Godwit made famous for setting a record for long-distance non-stop flight, has broken its own record on the return flight from Alaska to New Zealand, satellite tracking studies have confirmed.
Over a seven-month-long period the single bird clocked up over 18,000-miles (29,000 km), flying from New Zealand, to China, then over to Alaska to breed, then back to New Zealand.
The record-breaking last leg of E7's journey involved a non-stop flight over the Pacific of more than eight days and covering a distance of 11,600 kilometres.
By way of comparison with humans, Guinness World Records earlier this year announced the record for running around the world: it took 2,062 days.
“Godwits do not become adults until their 3rd or 4th year and many live beyond 20 years of age. If 18,000 miles is an average annual flight distance, then an adult godwit would fly some 300,000 miles in a lifetime,” said the US Geological Survey in a statement.
http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2007/09/godwit_records.html
