Every year, in mid-September, about 100,000 bar-tailed godwits return to New Zealand from Alaska. This godwit is a sea bird about 40cm in height. It wades on long legs in the mudflats at low tides on some beaches and eats insects, crabs and small plants.

It is an amazing bird because it flies about 11,500 km from Alaska to New Zealand in eight days and nights without stopping. It loses half its body weight on the journey. When it arrives, it loses all its feathers and grows new ones. Then it stays in New Zealand during our summer, getting fat, ready for the return journey.

In March or early April, the godwit leaves New Zealand for Alaska where it breeds. This time, the godwit stops for a short time on the Yellow Sea coast of Korea or China. When the godwit arrives in Alaska it makes a nest and has babies. These young birds also fly to New Zealand in September, after the adults have left. How do they know where to go? It must be genetic. The young stay in New Zealand for three years before leaving to breed.

Motueka in Nelson held a festival the first weekend in September to celebrate the return of the godwits but this year the festival was too early. The godwits didn’t arrive until later. Christchurch usually celebrates the return of the godwits by ringing the cathedral bells. This year, though, the bells were silent because the bell tower may not be safe after the earthquake.

Discussion Questions

What other migratory birds do you know? Where do they breed and where do they spend the winter?

How do birds know where to go? Does the wind give them signals?

Do native New Zealand birds migrate? Why or why not?

What other animals migrate?