Bird ‘Bar Tailed Godwits’- Nature’s Marvel
– N K Tripathi
Nature has an assortment of various beautiful things. All the flora and fauna, sky and water on the mother earth may give a holy bliss. The more one sees, or still better,comprehends the nature, the more fascinating it becomes.
A bird called Bar Tailed Godwits is a miracle of nature. It is a long billed shore bird about only 15 inches high. It has a bewildering attribute that it flies from Alaska to New Zealand non stop in eight days across the Pacific Ocean, a distance of 11,000 km one way. It flies to and fro in a year
These birds live in flock in Alaska sub-Arctic geographic region. They live fearlessly as no birds of prey can live in that climate. During the summers of Alaska there is plenty of food available for them and they do binge eating to fatten themselves. When severe winter is about to start, they turn their face southward and take a daredevil flight. Flying over the endless waters of the Pacific Ocean with no land underneath, they reach the southern part of New Zealand in its summer, which is somewhat sub-Antarctic region and the climate is like Alaska. The journey is with no food and no rest.
It is amazing that their north-south longitudinal flight is flawless in navigation without GPS. Scientists have claimed that they fly with just a protein in their eyes that see earth’s magnetic field like we see colours. Apart from this magnetic field, older birds fine tune their flight by looking to sun during the day and star constellations during the night. Their flight altitude varies between 3000 feet and 10,000 feet, but at times they may go as high as 18,000 feet. They adjust the height according to the wind direction to get tailwinds and according to weather system. They return from New Zealand at the onset of winter to reach the summer of Alaska.
Isn’t it Nature’s Marvel !
