Bar-tailed godwitKuaka

Conservation status
In some trouble

Breeding in Alaska, the kuaka return to Aotearoa and eastern Australia each year with about 80,000 of their whānau. These troopers take the longest non-stop flight of any bird because they do not rest or feed on the sea. Even more amazingly, young birds make the same journey at just four months old.

Bar-tailed godwit

Photo: Craig McKenzie