Cathedral bells ring out as New Zealand welcomes godwits after longest migration

City of Nelson welcomes arrival of migratory bird after 10,000km of non-stop flight from the Arctic

Thousands of migrating birds have been welcomed back to New Zealand to the sound of cathedral bells, after making one of the longest avian migration flights in the world.

Eastern bar-tail godwits, or kuaka in Mori, landed on Motueka sandspit at the top of the South Island on Tuesday, where they rested following the 10,000km (6,200 miles) non-stop flight from the Arctic, RNZ reported.