Bird sets record with 7,257 mile marathon

I was lucky enough to see one of these amazing birds at the Western Treatment Plant at Werribee, Victoria, Australia on 25 January 2007. The Treatment Plant is adjacent to Port Phillip Bay and many waders visit the area over our Summer.

Mark Fanthorpe has contributed a photo to this story.

The photo in the center is actually a reef heron but there is a bar tailed godwit just to the right. This photo was taken in Senegal, West Africa at the Langue de Barbarie National Park. A wonderful place to visit!

Sara Hollerich has contributed a photo to this story.

Actually, prior to E7's flight, the longest recorded nonstop flights were by several Bristle-thighed Curlews, which had been satellite-tracked as part of Bob Gill's project in 2006. They, and another group in 2007, all flew nonstop from Alaska to South Pacific Islands, nonstop trips over 6,000 miles. We knew the godwits went further, but they were more reluctant to demonstrate it for us. You can see more about the project at: http://alaska.usgs.gov/science/biology/shorebirds/pacific_migration.html

Spotted at the coast of Norway where huge numbers of them can be seen every summer (adult birds) and autumn (young birds migrate later). The bar-tailed godwit seen in Norway breed probably at the tundra in northern Russia.

alfredharam has contributed a photo to this story.

This was at Brownsea Island, Dorset.

Tim Proffitt-White has contributed a photo to this story.

Thanks for inviting, more of my bird photos on my blog site. My photo was taken in Bi-Centennial Park in Sydney, Australia.

http://chenghiang.wordpress.com/australian-birds/

LCHxian has contributed a photo to this story.

I took this photo in April 2008 at Firth-on-Thames (near the Miranda Shorebird Centre) in New Zealand. There were a couple of godwits there that had transmitters fitted the previous week. We could monitor the birds' movements over the next several weeks on the website.

piedbutcher has contributed a photo to this story.

My photo was taken here in southern Japan, in Miyazaki on the island of Kyushu on 15 May 2008.

This Bar-Tailed Godwit is from a small colony that returns to Botany Bay in Sydney every year, their numbers in this area have been decreasing in the last few years.

jayspost has contributed a photo to this story.

This bird is one of the western race that breed in the Tundra of Northern Scandinavia and Russia.They stop off to moult and refuel on the harder mud flats and estuaries of Eastern England,and then continue on to overwinter in East and West Africa.

rogersanderson has contributed a photo to this story.

Just outside Nome, Alaska.

t_mccarthey has contributed a photo to this story.

The New Zealand connection continues with colour-banded birds being spotted - I saw two on the 11th October 2008 here in the Bay of Plenty, on the East Coast of the North Island, New Zealand.

Paul

Once seen widely, this bird has been now becoming rare gradually in Central Parts of Gujarat, India. Still hopes survive to seem more of them by protecting their habitats.

Kunan Naik has contributed a photo to this story.

These photos were taken at MIranda on the Firth of Thames, south of Auckland, New Zealand. Its a great place to catch the godwits and other migratory visitors to these shores

south_roger has contributed a photo to this story.

This photo was taken in Mai Po Nature Reserve in Hong Kong on 26 September 2007. Bar-tailed godwits are passage migrant (April and September) and the mudflats in Mai Po Nature Reserve provide a very important feeding ground for them. They usually occur in small number among the more abundant black-tailed godwit.

whyip28 has contributed a photo to this story.