Our World of Nature

World restoration, a world of forests, world records and more…

World record for globe-trotting godwit.

It’s been said that the bar-tailed godwit is built like ‘jet fighter’. Now there’s a new Top Gun – a bird that was tracked travelling more than 12,000km to set a new world record for avian non-stop flight. The bird, known as 4BBRW by scientists, made the epic journey during the annual migration from Alaska to New Zealand. It’s believed that godwits do not sleep on this quest, instead flapping their wings for most of the time and reaching speeds of nearly 90 kilometers per hour. Hopefully  4BBRW gets a good rest and decent feed or two before making the return journey next March.

The sounds of our earth.

There’s never been a better time to visit the incredible forests of the world! Ok, obviously you won’t be able to physically get there. But we’ve found one of the next best things – a ‘sound map’ that will let you listen to different forests all around the world. Click here and listen to incredible soundscapes from Bierbeek in Belgium to Río Sapo, El Salvador and everywhere in between. There are five locations in New Zealand so far too!

Where do the children play?

A recent study in Finland has highlighted how the development of the immune system in children can be improved by changing play areas from concrete and gravel to living environments. These ‘mini-forests’ provide positive results within a month, and scientists believe it’s because children develop significantly more diverse microbes on their skin and in their guts than those who stayed playing in more artificial spaces. It’s hoped such results will help fight increased instances of autoimmune diseases such as asthma, eczema and type 1 diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease.

Re-wilding needed now more than ever.

Reclaiming and restoring land damaged by human exploitation can be one of the most effective and cheapest ways of combating climate change according to scientific research published in the journal, Nature. While this approach may seem like a no-brainer the study highlighted a number of interesting points about where resources are used and where biodiversity is being lost, with the article stating that “Only about 1% of the finance devoted to the global climate crisis goes to nature restoration”. You can read The Guardian article here.

Bird song (remix).

The American synth-pop band Future Islands have released a new album records and with it another track where birdsong takes centre stage. Glada is Swedish for kite, the bird providing inspiration for the band. If you’re on Spotify you can hear the track along with our other favourite bird songs by clicking here.

Why do birds suddenly appear?

In answer to the famous question posed by the Carpenters song, it’s either because a) you have our wonderful wildbird feed, b) you’re a Disney princess or, c) you’re a Disney princess or, c) you’re this guy. And yes, b) and c) could be the same thing!