A Bird That Spends Up to Ten Months In The Air

All animals need to sleep to restore their bodies and cognitive functions, but some have evolved remarkably creative ways to avoid losing time. The common swift is perhaps the closest thing we have to a creature of the sky itself, famed for an almost unbelievable record: the longest non-stop flight ever documented in the wild, lasting around 10 months. To achieve this, it developed a mechanism that allows it to rest while flying.

Each year, common swifts leave their breeding sites in Europe and embark on a vast migration to sub-Saharan Africa. As flying insects, their main food source, disappear from Europe during cold winter, common swifts need to go to warmer climate to find them. This means flying for 5 to 6 weeks, if they don’t stop, to do this long journey.

To sleep, when night falls, swifts climb to altitudes of up to two thousand meters, gliding through stable air where they can briefly rest mid-flight. Research suggests they alternate between bursts of wingbeats and short glides, entering micro-periods of sleep, sometimes with only one half of the brain resting at a time. These aerial naps, lasting mere seconds, keep them alert enough to stay aloft while still restoring their bodies.

This incredible ability makes the common swift hold the record for the longest continuous flight of any bird, with over 10 months of non-stop flying. It’s an amazing reminder of how nature adapts perfectly to the demands of each environment, even when it comes to something as essential as sleep.

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