I HAVE always loved reading books like the Guinness Book of Records and watching TV programmes like Record Breakers, hosted by the late Roy Castle.

I was reminded of this by a question I was asked recently: "Which bird is the best migrant?" and this was followed by "Which bird flies the highest?"

The best migrant is certainly the Arctic tern and probably the highest flier is the red-breasted goose.The Arctic tern enjoys more hours of daylight than any other species. It breeds in the northern hemisphere, as far north as the Arctic circle, and including Britain. It spends our winter in the southern hemisphere -- Australia and points further south. So, each year it has to cover at least 26,000 miles, but this does not include flights to find food. In all probability it will travel in excess of 50,000 miles. No other species can compare.

Now we come to the red-breasted goose, which has been seen in flight above Mount Everest!

How can birds can reach such heights without carrying extra oxygen? The answer is that they don't. We humans are so arrogant that we think we do everything better than other species. In fact bird biology is very different to ours.

We breathe by taking in oxygen from a single pair of large lungs and this is our total supply. Birds have one pair of very small lungs but, depending upon the species, they have at least six pairs of large air sacs. They also have hollow bones, which act as extra reservoirs. The bones of birds are still strong because inside each bone there is a system of cross-struts.

Since the 1930s aircraft designers (led by Barnes Wallis, the man who invented the bomb for the dam busters) have copied the bird bone structure to ensure that planes are both light and strong.

Birds have one other advantage: their body proteins are able to store oxygen and draw on this extra supply only when oxygen becomes scarce at high altitudes. This is why birdwatchers who see birds arriving from migratory flights should give them time to recover. They need rest in order to build up their oxygen reserves.

This wonderful bird biology explains why the red-breasted goose is able to cross the Himalayan mountains during its migration.

The lesson to be learned is that we should never understate the genius of nature.