BIRDING TODAY: Avian population rivals football counterparts
Aug. 31—We're about ready to gear up for football, but birds have some much better athletes in wings, who dutifully do what they need to do twice a year.
The Bar-tailed Godwit has always been an extreme version of athlete with the longest nonstop migration between Alaska where they hatch, to New Zealand and Australia where they spend their nonbreeding season. Moonbird, or B-6, is still the world's record holder since October 2022, flying almost 8,500 miles nonstop in eleven days to Tasmania, Australia. Researchers discovered this information after equipping B-6 with a solar satellite tag and every move was tracked. The Blackpoll Warbler and Pacific Golden-Plover are just as competitive!
The Whimbrel is also a top contender in its field and is found worldwide. Breeding in Alaska and Canada migrating as far south as southern South America yearly, they have been clocked at speeds of a hundred mph, using tropical weather systems to their advantage to move them out of harm's way. Watch out Red-breasted Merganser, who can move nearly as fast at 80 mph.
Scripp's Murrelet of North America's west coast is not sleeping during migration. This alcid is about American Robin-sized and breeds between Baja California and Southern Mexico on the area islands. After nesting, the family and flightless young disperse north and west, arriving nearly entirely by sea on their wintering grounds off central California's waters, a long swim. The Common Murre goes through the same scenario.
Red Knots are just as tenacious, using a different strategy for the same purpose. They can go from their breeding to wintering grounds sometimes thousands of miles distant, using stopover sites like Delaware Bay, Hudson Bay, the Atlantic coast, and the Gulf coast, responding from the Arctic tundra to southern South America. They are not leaving the Semipalmated Sandpiper in this dust when it comes to mileage.
The Arctic Tern breeds in the Arctic and sub-Arctic, and spends its winters in the Antarctic pack ice. It is the longest annual return migration with some birds tracking more than 50,000 miles in one year between both migrations. The Red Knot and American Golden-Plover can travel about 20,000 miles yearly for the same reason.
So you can see, birds are tough individuals that can take on any sports-minded individual and give them a run for their money. We all want to give our best wishes to our upcoming collegiate and pro football teams, and see who will take their sports this year. They may not be travelling in the tens of thousands of miles, but they will be doing an excellent job for us while we observe their victories.
Keep your eyes on the ground and your head in the clouds. Happy birding to you and the avian victors of the world.
Deb Hirt is a wild bird rehabilator and professional photographer living in Stillwater.