Bird breaks world record by flying 8,435 miles without stopping

Jan. 4 (UPI) -- Guinness World Records announced a juvenile bar-tailed godwit broke the record for the longest non-stop migration by a bird when it flew 8,435 miles from Alaska to Tasmania, Australia.

The record-keeping organization said the bird, known by tag number 234684, was wearing a 5G satellite tag when it departed Alaska on Oct. 11, 2022, and landed in Tasmania 11 days later, without stopping a single time for food or rest.

GWR said the record was previously set in 2020 by another member of the same species and this year's godwit broke the record by 217 miles.

Eric Woehler of Birdlife Tasmania told Guinness World Records the record-breaking bird probably lost "half or more of its body weight during continuous day and night flight."

"Short-tailed shearwaters and mutton birds can land on the water and feed. If a godwit lands on water, it's dead. It doesn't have the webbing in its feet, it has no way of getting off. So if it falls onto the ocean's surface from exhaustion, or if bad weather forces it to land, that's the end," he said.