Non-stop flight champ of the Bird World.

[Buteo]

(Washington Post)

The Bar-Tailed Godwit, a plump shorebird with a recurved bill, has blown the record for non-stop, muscled powered flight right out of the sky.

A study being published today reports that Godwits can fly up to 7,242 miles without stopping in their annual migration from Alaska to New Zealand. The previous record was set by the Eastern Curlew their 4000 mile trip from Eastern Australia to China.

The birds flew for 5-9 days without rest, a few landing on South Pacific islands before resuming their trips, which were monitored by satellite in 2006 & 2007.

As a feat of sustained exercise unrelieved by sleeping, eating or drinking, the Godwit's migration appears to be without precedent in the annals of vertebrate physiology.

[angelicarboreals]

Wow, that is a serious amount of air time right there.