Migratory birds: The real long-distance champions

Meet the bar-tailed godwit: Breeding primarily on Arctic coasts, and the Scandinavian and Siberian tundra, this wading species spends the winter in Australia and New Zealand. In 2007, a tagged bird was recorded as having flown 11,600 kilometers (7200 miles), from Western Alaska to New Zealand, in a single nine-day stretch. That probably makes it the record-holder for non-stop flight.

Named for the bright red plumage under its beak, the ruby-throated hummingbird can grow up to 9 centimeters (3.5 inches) and weigh as little as 3 grams. But don't let the bird's small stature fool you, it still gets around. During migration, some specimens fly 900 miles non-stop across the Gulf of Mexico to their breeding grounds in the Eastern United States.

Belonging to the stork species, the greater adjutant owes its name to its gait — which is said to resemble that of a military officer. But the adjutant doesn't command much land anymore. It's listed as endangered, and is only found in two breeding colonies in India and Cambodia. Outside of the breeding season, it visits neighboring countries across Southeast Asia.

An invasion of sooty shearwater birds in California in 1961 was the inspiration for Hitchcock's famous thriller "The Birds," which came out two years later. In real life, the birds are more awe-inspiring than scary. Crossing the Pacific and Atlantic, up coasts in spring and down in autumn, they clock up to 14,000-kilometer journeys. Oh, and they can also dive down to more than 60 meters.

Dunlins are small waders, and breed in Arctic regions. While those from Northern Europe and Asia fly as far as Africa for the winter break, their Alaskan and Canadian counterparts prefer the much closer North American coasts. Their characteristic mechanical way of picking at food has earned them their nickname.

Arctic terns have developed the ultimate strategy to evade winter: They breed in the Arctic during the northern summer, then travel to the shores of Antarctica, racking up 80,000 kilometers of travel or more per year in the process. That means they see two summers. But winters? Zero. Every year.

Critically endangered, the northern bald ibis is now only found in southern Morocco. It used to migrate across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Revered by the ancient Egyptians and said to have been the first bird to be released from Noah's Ark, Turkish pilgrims also looked to them for guidance on their way to Mecca. Spiritual appreciation hasn't helped stem its decline.

The northern wheatear has nothing to do with wheat or ears but it does make one of the longest migrations of any small bird. It passes over oceans, snow and desert during its spring journey from Sub-Saharan Africa to the Northern Hemisphere. There, the birds occupy an area stretching from Central Asia to Europe and Alaska. Trackers have shown they can travel 290 kilometers a day on average.

The common crane is a common appearance in the north of Europe and Asia, where it breeds typically in moors and wetlands. For its winter vacation, it commonly migrates to North and East Africa, as well as to Israel and parts of Iran.

Anything but boring, the ruddy turnstone's plumage features a harlequin-like pattern during summer when it breeds in the Arctic Tundra of Europe, Asia and North America. As temperatures drop, the small wader changes into its brown winter coat and migrates south on coastlines around the world.

These ducks had made it across the Mediterranean from North Africa only to be shot on arrival at this beach in Albania. Every year, hunters kill many millions of migratory birds across the Mediterranean — for food or money, or, most controversially, sport.