Swifts set record by flying 10 months non-stop

Swifts, little birds, set record by flying 10 months non-stop.

Biologists at the University of Lund in Sweden, led by Anders Hedenström, discover that swifts are able to stay aloft for at least 10 months!

Above, long-haul champ/Markus Tallroth

Anders Hedenström, monitoring their movements and location for two years, said:

“Three of them never reached the ground for 10 months. The others did land briefly, for a few nights, but never for more than half a per cent of the total time of their migratory periods.

It had been hypothesised in the 1950s and 1960s that they spend such prolonged periods in flight.”