A red knot foraging on the Shetland Islands, Scotland

© Andrew Parkinson/Minden Picture

Layover on a 9,000-mile journey. A red knot on the Shetland Islands, Scotland

This little bird with its 50 centimetre wingspan weighs about as much as a small jar of Vegemite, but has the stamina of an Olympian. While we’re busy welcoming spring, on the other side of the equator, red knots are known to fly more than 14,000 kilometres from the Artic to South America – and in Spring, they’ll do the journey in reverse, for a roundtrip of more than 32,000 kilometres. The most famous red knot, known as ‘Moonbird’, is so named because its migrations have exceeded the distance to the moon. Moonbird was first banded in Rio Grande, Argentina in 1995 and was been sighted many times in the years after–amazing scientists and birders alike.