A tiny Arctic tern has set a new record for longest migration ever by flying from Farne Islands in the UK to Antarctica and back again.
In its journey, the tiny bird covered a distance of 59,650 miles (about 96,000 km), which equals flying over twice around the planet.
This study was partly funded by BBC for its Springwatch Program, and was carried out by a team of researchers from Newcastle University. It was the first time that the annual migration of these seabirds was mapped by researchers. Last year in July, scientists fitted 29 birds with a tiny device (geolocators) to record the trek followed by these sea birds. The route of birds’ trip included the west coast of Africa, the Cape of Good Hope, Indian Ocean before finally reaching the winter home in the Weddell Sea in Antarctica in November, and then returning back to the Farne Islands.
“It’s really quite humbling to see these tiny birds return when you consider the huge distances they’ve had to travel and how they’ve battled to survive,” said Richard Bevan at Newcastle University.
During their mammoth journey, the birds dipped down to the sea surface to catch fish and other food.
“They live in the fast lane all the time, constantly on the move,” said Bevan. “They have to flap all the time. It is an incredibly energetic lifestyle.”
“So far we’ve managed to catch 16 of our tagged birds from last year and we’ve seen at least another four birds with our geolocators attached.”
“We have been able to track our record breaking Arctic tern as it flew down the coast of West Africa, crossed into the Indian Ocean and eventually arrived in Antarctica.
According to researchers, some terns might have died in the journey, and some might have decided not to return to the UK this year to breed.
“Further analysis of the data from these trackers will allow us to get a better understanding of how the Arctic terns organize their migration and how global climate change may affect their routes.”
This new record has broken the previous record set by another Arctic tern when it covered 91,000 km on its flight from the Netherlands. Although arctic terns have been found to perform longest migrations, another bird – the bar-tailed godwit – completes its journey from the Arctic to New Zealand in eight days straight, without stopping for food.
“Thousands of visitors flock to the Farnes every year to enjoy the remarkable wildlife.” said Lana Blakely, national trust ranger on the Farne Islands.
“What our visitors don’t always see is the scientific work that our rangers have been doing behind the scenes for over four decades to monitor wildlife on the islands.”
The BBC program Springwatch featuring the Arctic tern migration will be telecast on Tuesday 7 June.
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