Bar-Tailed Godwits & The Migration That We're Counting On
Migrating birds, whales and newsletters. We just hope that we've taken the right inspiration from the right species.
Hey there Zedites,
Wading in the Arctic coasts in summer is a bar-tailed godwit. He is pale creamy brown with bluish-gray legs. You might even catch him gobbling up some bristle worm with his long upturned bill. Here’s a picture.
Cute, right? He mostly eats invertebrates.
He also undertakes the longest non-stop migration of any bird. He flies all the way from Alaska to New Zealand. The round-trip migration is over 29,000 kilometres.
Raindeers migrate between ranges twice a year covering over 6000 kilometres. And of course, they navigate across the globe annually on December 25th as we all know.
Baleen whales migrate to summer feeding grounds from wintering lagoons covering 12,000 miles or around 20,000 kilometres.
There are numerous stories from these journeys of migration, like a reindeer herd that travelled hundreds of miles extra one year. Or how killer whales have learned to lay in ambush along baleen whales migratory routes. Or how bar-tailed godwits transform from creamy brown to bright brick-red breeding plumage.
All of these stories are incredible in their own sense. And I don’t think we truly give enough credit to how incredible these migrations are. These animals cover miles, trusting in their instincts and skills.
I wish I had the courage of a bar-tailed godwit, to know with confidence that if I left Alaska, I’d fly non-stop and make it to a home in New Zealand. But I’m here, firmly on the ground, typing away at my laptop, migrating not across countries but across platforms.
The newsletter is migrating to Substack over the weekend and it’s honestly pretty daunting. This won’t change anything for most established readers. But with restructured formats, schedules, and more new ideas thrown into the mix, things are pretty wild right now.
But for now, I’m just trusting my instincts and following the wind.
Till next time,
Aamer