An unlucky bird trying to fly home to New Zealand has been forced to return back to Alaska en route, where it landed after 57 hours of constant flight.
The adult kuaka (godwit) took off from tidal flats in Alaska’s Yukon-Kuskokwim delta, New Zealand’s Department of Conservation said.
After 33 hours of flying, the bird encountered strong winds, forcing him to return to Alaska, Massey University associate professor of zoology Phil Battley said.
“He was turned back after 2,000 kilometres into his flight that seem like a lot to us, but it’s not that much to a godwit,’’ he said.
The bird’s u-turn mid-migration was unusual, Battley said.
“Over the years we’ve tracked about 70 godwits leaving Alaska, and this is the first we know has had to turn back because of bad winds.’’
Other godwits that left the Yukon at the same time had made it to New Zealand.
Battley said the interest was in what the bird did, how long it rests for and whether it would make it all the way down to New Zealand.
“He’s still got time. He won’t have used all his energy, he’s just realised he was facing headwinds and thought ‘this isn’t a good start to a 10-day flight’ and turned back.’’
Last year the bird also faced strong winds and stopped in New Caledonia for a month.
“If it’s been hit by a problem two years in a row, I think you can call it unlucky,” Battley said.
The godwits’ 11,000-kilometre, non-stop migration was one of the longest in the avian world.
