Bar-tailed godwit

In the great book of nature, there is a small bird called Limosa lapponica, Bar-tailed Godwit in Italian. So no one would dare to look at him imagine what it can do. Yet, as the ugly duckling of the famous fairy tale, the Godwit is a true champion. Already the name scientfico, as allocated by Carl Nilsson Linnaeus in 1758, is intuitively special Limosa = silt, which is in silty environments, and lapponica which comes from Lapland, a vast region in the far north europe, famous to most for Santa Claus.

It belongs to the family of Scolopacidae, a group of birds that live in aquatic environments. He pointed wings and long legs, loves to fly in the company, gregarious, in large flocks. So far, you say nothing in particular, a more normal bird. But what is his secret?

11.68 thousand kilometers! There are many kilometers that this little bird to a maximum of 42 cm is capable of traveling from Alaska to New Zealand (see map), non-stop and without refueling.

A true record holder, fly non-stop for the entire Pacific Ocean, from north to south! It has a wide distribution area and we are passing on Lampedusa (strange as that can be done with the big flight) in autumn and spring, and in fact the Greco Stefano has photographed and their pictures you can see them here. The video at the bottom right is taken from youtube and is viscontessina.