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Bird flies 7,150 miles in a week
mongabay.com
September 11, 2007


The bar-tailed godwit (Limosa lapponica baueri) makes the longest non-stop migratory flight of any bird species in the world, reports a new study.

Researchers tracked a female godwit from its home in New Zealand to its breeding ground in Alaska, reports BBC News. The bird flew 11,500 km (7,150 miles) in a week.

"We were pretty impressed when she did 10,200km on the way north," Massey University ecologist Phil Battley told BBC News. "And the fact that she can now do 11,500km... it's just so far up from what we used to believe 10 years ago when we were thinking a five or 6,000km flight was extremely long. Here we've doubled it. "

The female bird was one of 13 godwits tagged by researchers.

The study is part of the Pacific Shorebird Migration Program, a joint initiative between the US Geological Survey and PRBO Conservation Science, a bird conservation group.