Bird could be heading for record books after Alaska-Australia flight

Bar-tailed godwits stand on the beach at Marion Bay in Australia’s Tasmania state (Eric Woehler via AP)

A young bar-tailed godwit appears to have set a non-stop distance record for migratory birds by flying at least 8,435 miles (13,560 kilometres) from Alaska to the Australian state of Tasmania, an expert has said.

Birdlife Tasmania convenor Eric Woehler said the bird was tagged as a hatchling in Alaska during the Northern Hemisphere summer with a tracking GPS chip and tiny solar panel that enabled an international research team to follow its first annual migration across the Pacific Ocean.