Posted Fri
at 5:37am
The
short-tailed shearwater can fly from remote Tasmanian waters to the Arctic
Circle in a matter of weeks, but at the moment it's having trouble navigating
its way out of Hobart.
A record
number of shearwaters (Tasmanian mutton birds) have been taken into care after
becoming disorientated and stranded around the city.
They can
fly more than a million kilometres over their lifetime; every year juvenile birds
leave their island burrows to fly north, and many become lost after taking a
wrong turn.
Members
of the public have reported seeing them dead on the busy Tasman Bridge or
stranded on roads and footpaths around Hobart.
The
nearest colonies are on islands around Storm Bay, so the birds shouldn't be
seen outside these areas.
Birdlife
Tasmania's Eric Woehler said they should be heading north-east on their journey
to the Northern Hemisphere.
"We've
seen an unexpected and novel event occurring this autumn, with young
short-tailed shearwaters heading inland rather than heading out to sea and
north to the Pacific," he said.
The birds
spend the Australian winter in the western Pacific near Japan and Russia, as
well as Alaska, before returning for the breeding season.
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