How does an animal weighing less than a chocolate bar fly 13,000 kilometres across the Pacific without landing, eating or sleeping?
Researchers are studying the bar-tailed godwit, a small bird capable of flying over 13,000 kilometers across the Pacific without stopping. The study highlights the bird's unique physiological adaptations that allow it to endure such extreme migratory journeys.
Why it matters
Understanding these biological endurance mechanisms provides insights into animal survival strategies and evolutionary biology in the face of environmental challenges.
The tiny migrants rewire their bodies before each epic journey, pushing the limits of animal endurance in ways that challenge everything we thought possible about survival.
On 13 October 2022, a juvenile bar-tailed godwit left western Alaska and pointed itself south across the Pacific. Eleven days and one hour later, it reached Ansons Bay in north-eastern Tasmania.
The track covered about 13,560 kilometres. There was no island stop, no meal and no quiet night on a beach. The bird stayed airborne through daylight and darkness, crossing an ocean larger than many continents while carrying a solar-powered transmitter weighing five grams.
The first surprise is that the record holder was only about four months old. The second is that this was not a freak performance by an otherwise ordinary bird. Bar-tailed godwits have evolved around journeys that turn their bodies into temporary flying machines.
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