BIRDS • MIGRATION • SATELLITE TRACKING
B6 the Godwit: 8,425 Miles Across the Pacific Without Landing
Satellite tracking followed a juvenile bar-tailed godwit from Alaska to Tasmania during an extraordinary 11-day migration in 2022.
ADDED NOVEMBER 4, 2026 • JOURNEY RECORDED OCTOBER 2022
A remarkable first migration
In October 2022, a juvenile bar-tailed godwit known as B6 completed a nonstop migration from Alaska to Tasmania. The U.S. Geological Survey reports a flight of 8,425 miles over 11 days. BirdLife Australia gives the distance as approximately 13,560 kilometres and identifies the destination as Ansons Bay in northeastern Tasmania.
After building up reserves on Alaska’s Kuskokwim Delta, B6 departed on October 13 and arrived on October 24. Satellite telemetry revealed the journey across the Pacific.
Tagged as a chick, flying months later
Researchers studying young godwits near Nome fitted B6 with a solar-powered satellite transmitter in July 2022. USGS documentation records deployment on July 15.
The tagging age is not the migration age. The bird was a young chick when researchers tagged it, but several months old when it crossed the Pacific. USGS describes B6 as four months old; BirdLife Australia’s contemporary account says five months. Both describe a juvenile making its first southward migration.
What the record means
The achievement was reported as a record for nonstop bird migration. That is different from the greatest total distance traveled over an entire year, which can include many flights and stopovers.
Tracking turns an extraordinary claim into a documented route. It can show where a bird traveled and when it arrived, while leaving other questions—such as its precise energy use and moment-to-moment behavior—for further research.
More than an endurance story
Bar-tailed godwits migrate between northern breeding grounds and non-breeding areas in Australia and New Zealand. Their travels connect distant habitats into a single life cycle.
For conservation, a long flight does not make feeding and resting places less important. It makes the places used before and after the crossing especially valuable. The journey also offers a classroom question: what evidence would distinguish a nonstop flight from a migration with brief stops?
Sources and further reading
- USGS Alaska Science Center: Juvenile bar-tailed godwit B6 sets world record — the tracking study and October 2022 journey.
- USGS: B6’s tagging documentation.
- BirdLife Australia: Bar-tailed Godwit breaks record — December 3, 2022.