Our logo features the Bar-tailed Godwit – the migratory bird with the longest ever recorded non-stop flight. The record breaking flight measured 11,500 kilometres nonstop from Alaska to New Zealand—without taking a break for food or drink!
Bar-tailed Godwit Facts:
- Bar-tailed Godwits arrive in Australia each year in August from breeding grounds in Scandinavia, northern Asia and Alaska.
- The Bar-tailed Godwit is a non-breeding migrant in Australia. Tens of thousands of birds land in Australia's north-west and move around the coast of Australia. Bar-tailed Godwits are common in coastal areas around Australia as they inhabit estuarine mudflats, beaches and mangroves.
- They are social birds and are often seen in large flocks and in the company of other waders.
- Bar-tailed Godwits feed on molluscs, worms and aquatic insects. Birds wade through the shallows or over exposed mud and probe their long bills rapidly into the bottom to find food. Feeding parties may number up to 30 or more birds.
- Apart from the young non breading birds, the Bar-tailed Godwits leave Australia in April and May, making the long journey back to their breeding grounds. The nest is a shallow cup in moss. Both the male and female share incubation of the eggs and care for the young.
