A Bar-tailed godwit has broken a world record.

The bird travelled more than 12,000km from Alaska to New Zealand in just 11 days

This sets a new world record for bird completing a non-stop flight.

The satellite recorded a point-to-point flight of 12,854km. It is estimated that the total flight time was 224 hours. The previous longest recorded non-stop flight by a bird, of 11,680km, was recorded in 2007.

The bar-tailed godwit set off from south-west Alaska on 16 September and arrived in a bay near Auckland 11 days later, having flown at speeds of up to 55mph.

The male bird, is known as 4BBRW. This comes from the blue, red and white rings fitted on its legs. It also had a 5gm satellite tag harnessed on its lower back to allow scientists to track its progress.

It was one of four birds to be tracked from the Alaskan mudflats where they had been feeding on clams and worms for two months.

New Zealand Prime Minsters Jacinda Ardern has declared a climate change emergency.

As a response, New Zealand will aim to be a carbon-neutral government by 2025.

New Zealand becomes the 33rd nation to formally acknowledged the global crisis by declaring a climate emergency.

The declaration of a climate emergency was supported by the Green Party and Māori Party and opposed by the National and Act parties.

Speaking in parliament after its introduction, Ardern said the country must “act with urgency”.

She said the government will be required to buy only electric or hybrid vehicles, the fleet will be reduced over time by 20% and all 200 coal-fired boilers used in the public service’s buildings will be replaced.