Arctic Tern Shown to Be Farthest-Travelling Animal in the World
13.01.2010 - Flora & Fauna, Arctic
A study by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) published in the US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that the Arctic tern travels approximately 1.5 million miles (2.4 million kilometres) during its lifetime.
By equipping 50 birds nesting in Greenland in 2007 with geolocators were developed by the BAS to log two geographical positions per day, the scientists discovered that the bird could cover over 45,000 miles (72,000 kilometres) each year.
An important discovery, however, is that the birds do not fly south immediately from Greenland to Antarctica. The scientists have found that the birds take a one-month rest about 621 miles (1,000km) north of the Azores in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, apparently to stock up on food. From there, the flock splits into two groups at the Cape Verde Islands and half of the terns cross the Atlantic to follow a parallel route south down the east coast of South America.
On their way back from the south, the terns were found to trace an ‘S’ over the Atlantic Ocean, a behavior which, although a detour, might help the birds to take advantage of prevailing winds to complete their journey as efficiently as possible.
While the study has provided scientists with a better insight into the behavior of the long-distance traveling birds, the retrieved geolocators hold even more important information as to major biological hotspots.
