Snipe flies non-stop from Sweden to Africa

Jun 13, 2011, 7:10 GMT

London - Great snipes (Gallinago media) that summer in Scandinavia fly to their winter habitat in Africa in just two to three days, according to researchers led by biologist Raymond Klaasen of Sweden's Lund University.

Writing in Biology Letters, a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Britain's Royal Society, Klaasen said the snipes not only flew over seas and deserts but also attractive rest and feeding grounds.

Little was known previously about the migratory behaviour of the shorebird, a relative of the common snipe. Klaasen's team captured 10 great snipes at their summer habitat in central Sweden and fitted them with tiny geolocating devices that recorded their flights.

The team recaptured three of the birds a year later and were able to reconstruct their migration. All three crossed the Baltic Sea, the Balkans, the Adriatic Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Libyan coast and Sahara Desert on their way to central Africa.

While other migratory birds take advantage of many possible stopovers en route to rest and feed, great snipes fly the distance almost nonstop, Klaasen said. They also shun stops on the return trip. He said they reached speeds of up to 100 kilometres per hour -- without assistance from tail winds, as meteorological data showed.