May 11, 2008
First male Bar-tailed Godwit reached Alaska today 10 May 2008 (World Migratory Birds Day!)
A map charting the migration of Bar-tailed Godwits from Australia and New Zealand into the Yellow Sea. Image: © 2008 USGS Alaskan Science Centre. Press image for enlargement.
This year’s satellite tracking program between New Zealand and Alaska is well underway with all of the New Zealand birds having reached the Yellow Sea and ready to fly the next leg to their breeding grounds in Alaska. This year male Bar-tailed Godwits were fitted with the superior (though heavier) implanted satellite transmitters which are much more effective than those used on males last year.
The somewhat tortuous route taken by the first birds to Alaska. Image: © 2008 Google Earth. Press image for enlargement.
It was thought that males, being generally smaller than females, might have difficulty with the extra weight. However the large males selected for the task are proving this is not the case because the first bird to arrive in Alaska this year is a male! This is hardly surprising because males normally arrive on the breeding grounds first to establish breeding territories and to wait for the arrival of the females.
Looking at the satellite image the first bird seems to have taken a tortuous route from the Yellow Sea to Alaska, until the weather map is superimposed on the image. The birds have an uncanny ability to know the best way to fly around bad weather to arrive safely and that is exactly what this bird has done.