the.com/godwit
a shorebird that flies nonstop across the entire Pacific without landing, eating, or sleeping.
means A long-legged wading bird of the genus Limosa, with a long, slightly upturned bill, famous for epic non-stop migratory flights.
from An English bird-name of uncertain origin, recorded from the 16th century. The likeliest reading splits it into 'god' plus 'wit' — possibly meaning 'good creature,' from Old English 'god' (good) and a second element related to 'wiht' (creature, being); but the connection is conjectural, and some have linked the name instead to the bird's call. In short, an old folk-name whose exact sense was already murky by the time anyone wrote it down.
- flight record
- flew 13,560 km from Alaska to Tasmania nonstop
- no breaks
- eleven days aloft, zero stops, zero meals
- body hack
- shrinks its own organs before migrating
- the beak
- long upturned bill probes deep into mudflats
- naming
- likely from old English for good creature
bar-tailed godwit — migratory bird that travels 7,500 miles from alaska to new zealand annually
black-tailed godwit — wading bird species found across europe, asia, and africa with distinctive long straight bill