Alpine Swifts
http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/10/08/three-swifts-probably-flew-non-stop-for-200-days/
In September of 2011, three alpine swifts took to the air in
southwest Africa, and stayed there for almost 200 days. They fed on the wing.
They slept on the wing. By the time they firmly settled back on solid surfaces,
it was April of 2012 and they had travelled across the Sahara to the
Mediterranean.
http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2013/131008/ncomms3554/full/ncomms3554.html
Being airborne is considered to be energetically more costly as
compared with being on the ground or in water. Birds migrating or foraging while
airborne are thought to spend some time resting on the ground or water to
recover from these energetically demanding activities. However, for several
decades ornithologists have claimed that some swifts may stay airborne for
almost their whole lifetime. Here we present the first unequivocal evidence that
an individual bird of the Alpine swift (Tachymarptis melba) can stay airborne
for migration, foraging and roosting over a period of more than 6 months.
I just like the picture.
http://OzReport.com/1381501212
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