How do we know?
↻ One of the pages with a moving picture
Scientists fitted young godwits with tiny solar-powered tags.
- Many birds use the Sun like a compass. An inner clock helps them keep track as it moves.
- At night, some use the stars, which seem to turn around a point in the north.
- Birds can also sense Earth’s magnetism. When scientists changed it, caged birds headed the wrong way!
- Lost adult birds can fix their route, but young ones can’t yet. So part of it is learned.
Scientists fitted young godwits with tiny solar-powered tags, just 5 grams each, then followed them by satellite. One young godwit landed in Tasmania, Australia, in 2022 after flying 8,435 miles without stopping.
When scientists changed Earth’s magnetism around caged birds, the birds headed the wrong way!
Some journeys are very long. An Arctic tern may fly almost 1.5 million miles in its life.
Wow number
1.5 million miles An Arctic tern may fly almost 1.5 million miles in its life. That’s like three trips to the Moon and back!
Myth or fact?
Godwits stop to rest on the ocean on the way. Myth. One flew for 11 days without stopping.
Smell may help some birds find their way. Fact. Scientists are still finding out which smells.
Think about it
If you had to find your way home with no map, what clues would you use?
Where in the world?
Near Nome, Alaska, USA where young bar-tailed godwits hatch. Scientists followed them on their very first trip south. One landed in Tasmania, Australia, in 2022 after flying 8,435 miles without stopping — 64.5011° N, 165.4064° W.
Where these facts come from
Every number on page 55, and who measured it
This page explains how birds use the Sun, the stars and Earth's magnetism, and what is still a mystery.
How Birds Perform Amazing Migratory Feats—and the Mysteries That Remain — The National Audubon Society, a big bird-protecting group
audubon.org/magazine/how-birds-perform-amazing-migratory-feats-and-mysteries-remain
We checked it on 31 October 2026
This page tells us how far an Arctic tern flies in its life.
Earth’s Original Aviators (U.S. National Park Service) — The U.S. National Park Service
nps.gov/articles/earth-s-original-aviators.htm
We checked it on 31 October 2026
This page tells us about the tiny solar-powered tag on a young godwit from Alaska.
Juvenile bar-tailed godwit "B6" Sets World Record — The U.S. Geological Survey, the government's Earth scientists
usgs.gov/centers/alaska-science-center/news/juvenile-bar-tailed-godwit-b6-sets-world-record
We checked it on 31 October 2026
This page tells us about the godwit's record nonstop flight to Tasmania.
The record-breaking bird that flew from Alaska to Australia without stopping — Guinness World Records, which keeps lists of world records
guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2023/1/the-record-breaking-bird-that-flew-from-alaska-to-australia-731576
We checked it on 31 October 2026
Has this changed?
Yes, this one may grow. Scientists are still finding out which smells help birds find their way.
What changes is the tracking: smaller tags let scientists follow even young birds on their first trip.
Words from this page
- compass
- A tool that shows which way is north.
- magnetism
- A pull that Earth has, like a giant magnet, that some animals can sense.
- tag
- A tiny device fitted on an animal so scientists can follow where it goes.
Try it!
Make a landmark map.
1. Draw a map of your way from home to a park or school. 2. Add things you pass: a big tree, a red door, a corner. 3. Ask a grown-up to follow your map on your next walk.
What happens: you used landmarks as clues. Birds use clues too, like the Sun, the stars and Earth’s magnetism.
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