as seen on yahoo..longest known non-stop migration for any shorebird species - Snowmobile Forum: Your #1 Snowmobile Forum

cjone782000 · 10-01-2007, 02:53 PM

She just flew in from New Zealand and boy are her wings tired.
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Early last month, a female Bar-tailed Godwit, a type of shorebird, completed an epic journey from New Zealand to Alaska and back, a trip that included the longest flight ever recorded for a land bird, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

The bird logged a flight that lasted for more than eight days and covered a distance of 7,200 miles, the equivalent of flying roundtrip between New York and San Francisco twice. The USGS tracked the migrating bird and its travel mates via satellite.

Bar-tailed Godwits (Limosa lapponica) spend their summers breeding in western and northern Alaska, and in the fall gather on the Alaska Peninsula to make the long flight across the Pacific Ocean to their winter homes in New Zealand and southeastern Australia.

The 18,000-mile (29,000-kilometer) roundtrip journey is the longest known non-stop migration for any shorebird species, though the birds sometimes fly it in several legs.

The conservation status of Bar-tailed Godwits is listed as of High Concern in the United States, mostly because of the birds' low population size (there are only an estimated 100,000 to 150,000 breeding birds in Alaska) and habitat threats to some of their migratory stop-overs in Asia.

PolarisINDY500 · 10-01-2007, 03:26 PM

holy crap

**RJ Gleason** · 10-01-2007, 04:03 PM

OH NO, another useless tidbit stuck in my brain.

ptrapper65 · 10-01-2007, 05:48 PM

"The USGS tracked the migrating bird and its travel mates via satellite."

To think there are people starving in the US (and all over the world) and we spending millions of dollars tracking birds with satellites. Is there something wrong with this picture?

cjone782000 · 10-01-2007, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ptrapper65

"The USGS tracked the migrating bird and its travel mates via satellite."

To think there are people starving in the US (and all over the world) and we spending millions of dollars tracking birds with satellites. Is there something wrong with this picture?

hmmmm were spending 600,000 to cover the shape of a building

ptrapper65 · 10-01-2007, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cjone782000

hmmmm were spending 600,000 to cover the shape of a building

LOL

PolarisINDY500 · 10-01-2007, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ptrapper65

"The USGS tracked the migrating bird and its travel mates via satellite."

To think there are people starving in the US (and all over the world) and we spending millions of dollars tracking birds with satellites. Is there something wrong with this picture?

acutally, no there isnt. migratory patterns are important for many reasons. especially those species associated with their presence in either continent. and to track via satellite is only because satellites are already in orbit. its not like they launched a satellite especially for these birds. a simple tracking device will emit a signal and data is then colleted.

you dont see people complaining about the satellites in orbit helping them while using their $500 GPS unit

cjone782000 · 10-02-2007, 12:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PolarisINDY500

acutally, no there isnt. migratory patterns are important for many reasons. especially those species associated with their presence in either continent. and to track via satellite is only because satellites are already in orbit. its not like they launched a satellite especially for these birds. a simple tracking device will emit a signal and data is then colleted.

you dont see people complaining about the satellites in orbit helping them while using their $500 GPS unit

all i know is i wanna eat the bird that set that record

**smallengineguy** · 10-02-2007, 07:12 AM

I'm not complaining, andI LOVE my GPS....

ptrapper65 · 10-04-2007, 08:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PolarisINDY500

acutally, no there isnt. migratory patterns are important for many reasons. especially those species associated with their presence in either continent. and to track via satellite is only because satellites are already in orbit. its not like they launched a satellite especially for these birds. a simple tracking device will emit a signal and data is then colleted.

you dont see people complaining about the satellites in orbit helping them while using their $500 GPS unit

I'm not complaining about the satellites. I love them. I'm just bitching about the time and effort spent on studying the speed of a bird. Why does this matter? If it transmits the bird flu faster, will we be any better off? It's like spending money on watching a slug crawl.

Just my thoughts

cjone782000 · 10-04-2007, 09:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ptrapper65

I'm not complaining about the satellites. I love them. I'm just bitching about the time and effort spent on studying the speed of a bird. Why does this matter? If it transmits the bird flu faster, will we be any better off? It's like spending money on watching a slug crawl.

Just my thoughts

I think this was a private funded bird watching....not sure? is the u.s.g.s. a government firm?

**RJ Gleason** · 10-05-2007, 04:25 PM

United States Geological Survey.