Record-setting bird flies for 12 days without stopping

Is it a bird, is it a plane? I've got godwits on the brain.

A bar-tailed godwit has broken the record for the longest non-stop journey by flying from Alaska to New Zealand.

That's a distance of 7,500 miles and the tireless bird managed to do it in just 11 days.

The male bird was fitted with a transmitter by scientists who recorded him going at speeds of up to 55 miles per hour.

The previous record was also held by a godwit.

However, it remains a mystery how the birds are able to navigate such large distances without stopping and without getting lost.

In order to prepare for the long journey, the godwit has to fill up with food and they shrink their internal organs so they can fit loads in.

The birds take on so much fuel that they can double in size and consist of almost half fat following their pre-flight meal.

By the time they arrive in New Zealand, they are half as heavy again.

Scientists also think the birds go without sleeping for the whole journey, instead catching up for a few days when they arrive in New Zealand.

Sleep tight, record-breaking bird!