The Endless Flight of the Alpine Swift

The Alpine Swift, a bird species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia, is famed for its exceptional flight ability.

But it's not just the distance these birds can travel that is so astonishing.

According to a study published in 2013 in the journal 'Nature Communications', these avian athletes can fly non-stop for up to 200 days without resting.

Astonishingly, they spend most of their lives in the air, even eating and sleeping while flying.

Using small, lightweight monitoring devices attached to the birds, Swiss researchers tracked the Alpine Swifts' movement and behavior for a period of several months.

The findings from this study provided new insights into these birds' extraordinary flight endurance and also raised new questions about their physiology and adaptation strategies.

This goes to show that the Alpine Swift may be small, but it's one of nature's most impressive marathon fliers!.