Kōrero: Bird migration

Bar-tailed godwits taking off

Bar-tailed godwits taking off

When bar-tailed godwits fly across the Pacific towards New Zealand, they need a very precise sense of what course to fly. Strong winds could push them too far east or west, and they could miss the islands altogether. It is thought they use a combination of cues, including a kind of magnetic map, sun angles, star movements, and landmarks to correct their course as they go.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

New Zealand Herald
Reference: 10 October 2002
Photograph by Greg Bowker

Permission of the New Zealand Herald must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Te tuhi tohutoro mō tēnei whārangi:

Christina Troup, 'Bird migration - Navigation and the magnetic field', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/mi/photograph/7253/bar-tailed-godwits-taking-off (accessed 29 March 2024)

He kōrero nā Christina Troup, i tāngia i te 12 Jun 2006, reviewed & revised 17 Feb 2015