Bar Tailed Godwits fly 11,000 miles without rest, Alaska to New Zealand, twice a year.
Every autumn the bar-tailed godwit undertakes an eight-day journey from Alaska to New Zealand.
The bird flies non-stop, without once breaking the journey to rest or eat. Then when autumn comes to New Zealand, the bar-tailed godwit makes the 11,000-kilometre journey back to Alaska.
The distance is twice as far as previously known non-stop distances for migratory birds.
They consume unusually little energy compared with other species of birds. Anders Hedenström has calculated that the bar-tailed godwit consumes 0.41 per cent of its body weight each hour during its long flight.
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