Longest recorded non-stop flight in a bird (Alpine swift, Tachymarptis melba)

Value 200 days
Organism Birds
Reference Liechti F, Witvliet W, Weber R, Bächler E. First evidence of a 200-day non-stop flight in a bird. Nat Commun. 2013 4 :2554. doi: 10.1038/ncomms3554. titlePubMed ID24104955
Method P.2 left column 4th paragraph: "Six Alpine swifts were equipped at a breeding site in Switzerland with tags logging light for information on their whereabouts [ref 18] and acceleration for measuring their activity [ref 19]. After their return to the breeding site in the following year, three of the six birds were recaptured. Based on the stored data, [investigators] could reconstruct their non-breeding movements (Fig. 1) and activity pattern (Figs 2 and 3) over a period of at least 7 months."
Comments Abstract: "Here [investigators] 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."
Entered by Uri M
ID 112866