Bar-tailed Godwits Make a 7,250-Mile Pacific Overnight: A Nonstop Ocean Crossing
A satellite-tagged female bar-tailed godwit flew 11,680 kilometers (about 7,250 miles) nonstop from western Alaska to New Zealand in 8.1 days, never landing or feeding. Seven tagged godwits showed similar open-ocean crossings, with fat stores expanded before departure and nonessential organs shrunk to shed weight, enabling a continuous flight across a largely predator-free Pacific corridor aided by favorable southbound winds. The route is unusually straight and narrow, and the birds must be highly fuel-efficient, rarely stopping on land. A 2022 juvenile flight from Alaska to Tasmania (about 11 days) set another record, while questions remain about how these birds sleep and manage dehydration and brain activity during such long flights.
