Many birds fly long distances during their annual migrations. But there’s one species that tops them all.

Some of the farthest flyers are cuckoos, who travel 7,500 miles over 2 months, from Africa to Mongolia, stopping along the way for food and water.

This includes one nonstop stretch over the Indian Ocean for 1,600 miles!

That sounds impressive, but it’s a walk in the park for the bar-tailed godwit.

Godwits are wading birds in the sandpiper family. They spend the mild northern summer along Arctic shorelines. Then, as autumn arrives, they take off for the Southern Hemisphere to skip the winter entirely.

To prepare for this incredible journey, godwits build up huge fat reserves.

They gorge on worms, clams and crustaceans until over half their body weight is fat. Meanwhile, their wing and leg muscles grow larger.

Like other long-distance birds, they may shrink their internal organs, and take “bird naps” while flying, putting half their brain to sleep in short alternating bursts.

Using these tactics, godwits can fly 55 miles an hour for 11 days straight without stopping, crossing nearly 8,000 miles of unbroken ocean from Alaska to New Zealand.

They’ll stay there for 6 months, replenishing fat reserves till fall arrives. Then they’ll take off again, to fly back into the northern spring for mating and nesting.

Now that’s a long-haul round trip!