This Bird Set New Guinness World Record By Flewing From Alaska To Australia Without Stopping

A new Guinness World record is set without pausing for food or rest, a bar-tailed godwit (Limosa lapponica), named by its tag number "234684," flew 13,560 kilometres (8,435 miles) from Alaska to Tasmania in Australia for the longest non-stop migration by a bird.

Approximately one-third of the planet's diameter, or two and a half trips between London and New York, was travelled. The epic flight, according to the 5G satellite tag connected to its lower back, began on October 13, 2022, and lasted 11 days and one hour without the bird landing.

Bar-tailed Godwits have already made news for their lengthy migrations, so this is nothing new. The bar-tailed godwit is not the only long-distance flyer in the world of birds. Over the course of a year, Arctic terns (Sterna paradisaea) can routinely travel even further distances.

These diligent seabirds may travel more than 80,000 km (50,000 mi) round trip from their breeding grounds north of the Arctic Circle to Antarctica and back, making their migration the longest of all bird migrations. The main distinction is that they occasionally land while on their outstanding journeys. While most birds travel great distances in search of food and warmth, some can change physically to adapt to their surroundings.

The previous record, set by a different type of bird in 2020, was surpassed by this five-month-old bird by more than 350 kilometres (217 miles). That godwit had surpassed another in 2007 by flying 11,500 kilometres (932 miles).