Bird makes 7,200 mile nonstop flight

[bcadoo]

Rufous Hummingbirds (Selasphorus rufus) make the longest migration of any of the Trochilidae (Hummingbird Family) and, in proportion to size, one of the longest bird migrations.

It breeds as far north as Alaska and winters in Central America, a distance of ~2700 miles. This is is equivalent to 49,000,000 body lengths. This is the longest migration of any bird in terms of body length.

[crockett]

I just felt like flying...

[RTR]

LOL Crocket!

RTR

[mtnman]

Birds are incredible. I saw a show the other night where some hawks or falcons were catching and eating bats on the fly. Simply amazing. Who ever thought a bat can be caught in flight!

I saw another show about 2 years ago that showed birds catching sea snakes and eating them on the fly. That is one of the deadliest snakes around.

Was it "Raptor Force"?  It plays on our local PBS station as part of their Nature Series.  That's an awesome show, and I'm not just saying that because I personally know three of the people they featured, hehe!  At the beginning of Raptor Force they show some peregrines protecting a nest on a smokestack, and on a nearby cliff along the Mississippi river.  My family and I got to go to the top of that cliff to see the peregrines up close this past July, with the guy they show climbing the smokestack (Bob Anderson).  It was freakin' awesome!  Wild peregrines flying by 30 feet away, doing mid-air food transfers, harrassing the local pigeons and Bald Eagles, etc...

I also know the guy who put the backpack camera on his falcon, and I've hunted with the guy flying the Goshawk near the end of the show.  Awesome folks.

MtnMan

[mtnman]

It's also worth noting that when a bird soars, it's wings are basically "at rest" in the outspread position.  It takes effort to raise them or lower them, but it's easy for them to soar.