Bird trivia:The bird that flies the farthest in the world?

According to the National Geographic website, a new study found that a small Arctic tern is the farthest animal in the world, and the migration distance is about twice as high.

The new micro tracker recently showed that the Arctic Tern weighing 4 ounces (113 grams) migrated between Greenland and Antarctica along the “Z” line every year. In the process, the Arctic Tern often travels 44,000 miles (71,000 kilometers), compared to its competitor sooty shearwater, which is about 4,000 miles (6,440 kilometers).

The author of the study, Carlston Igvon of the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, said: “There have been various theories about this issue, but we are able to show what these little birds have done, this is still the first Once. According to the researchers, since the Arctic tern has lived for more than 30 years, it has to fly about 1.5 million miles (2.4 million kilometers) in its lifetime, equivalent to three trips to and from the moon.

Until now, scientists have only been able to track large birds with trackers, because for small birds, these instruments are too large to drive. However, the micro-tracker developed by the research team by the British Antarctic Survey, weighing only one-twentieth ounce (1.4 grams), is tied to small bird legs such as Arctic terns. Can fly freely.

Igvon was surprised to find that Arctic terns often stayed in the North Atlantic for a month. Perhaps they were there to catch small fish and crustaceans to replenish energy and then fly over the tropics. When returning from Greenland in the spring, the Arctic Tern continued to fly along the “Z” line. These birds do not fly directly to the Mid-Atlantic, but fly from Antarctica to South America and then to the North Pole.

But their crazy behavior is very orderly. Igfeng said: “This is a thousand kilometers of detours. But when you analyze it, it is very reasonable and very orderly.” He said that these birds are obviously following a huge spiral. Fly in wind mode to avoid flying into the wind.

Despite such a route, it is not clear why the Arctic terns have to travel so long. Igfeng said: “I think they are flying in a rich (polar) foraging area.” The research was published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.