Long, non-stop bird-flight
Great snipes ( Gallinago
media) that summer in Scandinavia fly to their winter habitat in Africa in
just two to three days, according to researchers
led by biologist Raymond Klaasen of Sweden's Lund University.
Writing in Biology Letters,
Klaasen said the snipes not only flew over seas and deserts but also
attractive rest and feeding grounds.
Little was known previously
about the migratory behaviour of the shorebird, a relative of the common
snipe. Klaasen's team captured 10 great snipes at their summer habitat in
central Sweden and fitted them with tiny geolocating devices that recorded
their flights.
The team recaptured three of
the birds a year later and were able to reconstruct their migration. All
three crossed the Baltic Sea, the Balkans, the Adriatic Sea, the
Mediterranean Sea, the Libyan coast and Sahara Desert on their way to
central Africa.
While other migratory birds
take advantage of many possible stopovers en route to rest and feed, great
snipes fly the distance almost nonstop, Klaasen said.
They also shun stops on the
return trip. He said they reached speeds of up to 100 kilometres per hour —
without assistance from tail winds, as meteorological data showed. — DPA
