a blog post by Wouter Vansteelant
Having tracked dozens of Black-tailed Godwits, we know what feats migratory birds are capable of. But still the birds continue to impress us every year. Of special interest are juvenile godwits, like P3WGWC and W1WCCG that were among the new generation of godwits equipped with a GPS-GSM device in the Netherlands this year. As young godwits do, both birds stayed in the Netherlands for several months before departing on their first journey to the south. Then, in August, both youngsters suddenly disappeared of the radar. After weeks of radio silence it seemed likely they didn’t survive their first migration. Until all of the sudden, both birds sent new coordinates from Senegal. They made it! And they hadn’t wasted any time on their journey either!
While most godwits make at least one stop around the Mediterranean on their way south, these two youngsters found their way to Senegal in a single non-stop flight. P3WGWC reached an impressive average speed of >50km/h, travelling 4400+km from Flevoland to the Senegal delta in approx. 80 hours. However, it was W1WCCG that really took our breath away. After departing from the Kolk van Dussen in Noord-Holland, this first-time traveller managed to cover >4700km to southern Senegal in approx. 50 hours. To do this, W1WCCG would have hit speeds of -on average- more than 90km/h. As if that wouldn’t impressive enough, the GPS-device indicated that W1WCCG reached an altitude of 6375m above sea level while crossing the Sahara.
Juvenile Black-tailed godwit W1WCCG photographed by Jeffrey Leguit
There is no doubt that to reach such high speeds W1WCCG will have benefited from a strong tailwind. But even with such supporting factors, young godwits must surely be in prime condition to cover the whole route from the Netherlands to West Africa in a single flight! And while a lot of conservation efforts are directed at providing godwits with safe breeding areas, we know relatively little about the first months of godwit life, and how we can help them prepare for their first migrations.
To get to grips with these and other questions, BirdEyes is leading a new 5-year research program focused entirely on the lives and needs of Godwit chicks, from the moment they hatch, till the moment they fledge, into their first epic migration, and until they eventually return to the Netherlands to breed.
We look forward to share many more migration stories with you as part of this research. Meanwhile, you can explore the tracks of P3WGWC and W1WCCG yourself at Global Flyway Network.
