This rarity is the longest non-stop distance flying bird in the world! 29,000 kilometers!
Say hello to the Bar Tailed Godwit! My first time to get one in South Africa!
I saw this strange bird digging for sea worms in the surf and at a distance I thought his beak was a long worm that he caught. The zoom told me that it was not a long worm, but rather his beak.
This guy is in his non breeding plumage and he decided not to migrate to Alaska, but to rather spend his winter here.
Come and have a look!
Late afternoon is a great time to take a walk on the beach, as the sun is not so sharp and the animals are feeding before nightfall.
See how he plunges his beak head deep into the sand to search for worms!
Late afternoon and the tide is coming in so he kept on running in and out of the surf!
Here's an idea for you of the growing waves, so you can see that he has to be nimble to avoid getting swamped by the the water!
Just showing you some of his wave dancing steps!
A beautiful champion this and I don't think that I will ever see him in his full colors at breeding time.
Here is some more information about the Bat Tailed Godwit;
"The bar-tailed godwit (Limosa lapponica) is a large wader in the family Scolopacidae, which feeds on bristle-worms and shellfish on coastal mudflats and estuaries. It has distinctive red breeding plumage, long legs, and a long upturned bill. Bar-tailed godwits breed on Arctic coasts and tundra from Scandinavia to Alaska, and overwinter on coasts in temperate and tropical regions of the Old World, Australia and New Zealand". (They forgot to mention South Africa)
"The migration of the subspecies Limosa lapponica baueri from across the Pacific Ocean from Alaska to New Zealand is the longest known non-stop flight of any bird, and also the longest journey without pausing to feed by any animal. The round-trip migration for this subspecies is over 29,000 km".
And this is his full breeding colors;
Finally, we leave you with this breaking wave to remind you not to forget a visit to the beach!
And That's All Folks!
Just another day in our lives and we hope that you have enjoyed the pictures!
Do yourself a favor and read about the majestic achievements of this magnificent species of nature!
Simply copy this link below and be amazed!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar-tailed_godwit
Thank you for visiting a post by @papilloncharity
Wow. Waves are so dynamic and awesome. Which camera do you use?
Thank you and glad that you liked the waves.
I use a Canon Powershot SX60HS.
Great shots as always. It is amazing how far some birds migrate. I wonder how many don't make it.
I know that there are some other write ups about them where I found that link on the post and you have an interesting question. I was just so amazed that they can fly non stop for 4 weeks without eating or drinking.
Imagine if marathon runners can duplicate their preparations before a flight.
Apparently the birds "fatten up" to make their intestines smaller before the migration flight.
That's a cool looking bird - that long beak and the even longer legs look strange, but somehow really nice 😊
29,000 kilometers is quite a distance for one nonstop flight - I wonder what they eat during the flight.
Great post as always, @papilloncharity 😊
!tip
Cheers and !BEER
This is the wonder about these birds Sir @johannpiber.
They fly for 4 weeks not drinking or eating anything.
What they do id they have a system of fattening up before the take the migration flight south from Alaska.
Apparently the fattening up makes their intestines smaller and in flight their intestines draw from the fat.
Check out the link at the bottom of the post.
Blessings!
I wished I could do that too, but I don't want to know how I'd look if I stored food and drinking for 4 weeks in my body 😉
Seriously, although you know how they are doing it it is still mysterious and a little wonder, as you say.
Cheers and !BEER
Hahaha, I can imagine you at 400 pounds trying to run a 65kilometer marathon Lol.
Mother nature holds many mysteries in her handbag my friend, some so mysterious that even the best scientists can't figure it out.
Blessings and thank you!
I don't even want to imagine that 😉
It's good that we don't know everything and still can be surprised about the things mother nature shows us, although I would have quite a few questions for her if she would talk to me in my language 🙂
Cheers and !BEER
Hahaha, I once had a brother in law that was almost that heavy Sir Johann.
He had polio as a child and his mother spoiled him so much that she neglected her other children.
She kept on spoiling him into adultdood and eventually he was so fat that he could only enter a door by turning sideways.
The doctors told him that if he lost weight, that he could walk normally, but he didn't want to put down his crutches, as who would spoil him then?
Eventually he died of a heart attack.
I don't think we will ever know everyting my friend, as every day over the ages new discoveries are made.
Mother nature can talk in all languages, but so many of us cannot understand her language hahaha.
Here's an example of her language;
You climb into a tree and you go out on a thin branch. She tells you in your own language that the branch is going to break, but you ignore her and you carry on.
Afterwards you have to find an excuse for the doctor hahaha.
Cheers and blessings!
200 kilos are a lot - that's me, my wife and almost both of our kids together 😂
It was not his fault and I feel sorry for him, although he then didn't want to stop to eat and lose weight.
That's a nice example and I can tell you that I have climbed on many trees and I always heard her before she even told me that the branch would break 😉
But she didn't tell me that the ground was too soft when I jumped from a rock once and teared the sideband of my left foot.
Have a nice evening my friend 🙂
Cheers and !BEER
!invest_vote
@johannpiber denkt du hast ein Vote durch @investinthefutur verdient!
@johannpiber thinks you have earned a vote of @investinthefutur !
Votet @cervisia for Witness
View or trade
BEER.Hey @papilloncharity, here is a little bit of
BEERfrom @johannpiber for you. Enjoy it!Learn how to earn FREE BEER each day by staking your
BEER.View or trade
BEER.Hey @papilloncharity, here is a little bit of
BEERfrom @johannpiber for you. Enjoy it!Learn how to earn FREE BEER each day by staking your
BEER.Thank you kindly Sir @johannpiber
View or trade
BEER.Hey @papilloncharity, here is a little bit of
BEERfrom @johannpiber for you. Enjoy it!Learn how to earn FREE BEER each day by staking your
BEER.Thank you Sir @johannpiber
🎁 Hi @papilloncharity! You have received 0.1 HBD tip from @johannpiber!
@johannpiber wrote lately about: Tenthredinidae - Little Yellow Worm Thing Feel free to follow @johannpiber if you like it :)
Sending tips with @tipU - how to guide.
Thank you kindly Sir @johannpiber
View or trade
BEER.Hey @papilloncharity, here is a little bit of
BEERfrom @johannpiber for you. Enjoy it!Learn how to earn FREE BEER each day by staking your
BEER.Thank you Sir @johannpiber
I don't know if I've sewn this exact guy, but I've seen similar, never such great pics though.
They have and easier time on the west coast here in the tidal flats.
Yes, I think you have seen them as they migrate to many parts of the world.
The bird guys only tracked the birds that fly to the most distant places.
Did you see the charts about their routes in the link?
So amazing what they can do.
#posh share;
Thanks for sharing your creative and inspirational post on HIVE!
This post got curated by our fellow curator @priyanarc and you received a 100% upvote from our non-profit curation service!
Join the official DIYHub community on HIVE and show us more of your amazing work!
Thank you for the kind support @diyhub and Lady @priyanarc
How do they make it so far without feeding? Don't they run out of calories to burn or do they stat off quite fat? :)
That link has some interesting reading.
You guessed it right as they fatten themselves for the trip.
Amazingly the fattening process makes their intestines smaller and that equips them for the long distances.
I don't suppose they know that lol, but they do that instinctively.
Nature certainly holds many secrets.
Thank you for the visit.
The opposite of my own fattening process - I should start migrating more - I did make it half way around the globe, but got too fat to get back ;D
Hahahah,wait till the covid is done and migrate across to South Africa.
The tin bird is fattened by passengers, exactly the same as the long distance birds.
It seems that ingestion provides for endurance :)
Congratulations @papilloncharity! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
You can view your badges on your board And compare to others on the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPTo support your work, I also upvoted your post!
Do not miss the last post from @hivebuzz:
Thank you kindly for the notice!
That's a wicked beauty of a feathered visitor, @papilloncharity! Congrats on getting a rare fellow for a "first" (what the FB birding group I'm in calls it when you see a bird for the first time in person). I was lucky enough to have a first a few weeks ago, right in the front yard, but still haven't had the time to put together a post - it certainly wasn't nearly as striking as your guy, and I'm more than a bit envious of the gorgeous ocean backdrop as well! Thanks for sharing the awesomesomeness!
Firstly I want to thank you for always being there for us Lady @traciyork.
You are indeed a star player for Papillon here on Hive.
If I could, I would bring a part of the ocean to your garden for your suprise visitors to get caught by you in the surf.
Great that you guys at the FB birding group calls them "wicked beauties", but I think this guy is only wicked at breeding time when he has that colorful suit on hahaha!
Thank you for the visit my dear friend.
How thrilling to get such good photos of the bar-tailed godwit! And fun to watch him digging for worms and such! Thanks for sharing!
It's amazing that there is that long stretch of beautiful beach with no one on it!
Thank you my friend and it was indeed a thrilling discovery.
Beaches are closed due to the covid story.
Blessings!