Overland migration of Arctic Terns revealed

Date:  March 25, 2019

Source:  Newcastle University

Data from a landmark study of the world's longest migrating seabird reveals how overland migration is an integral part of their amazing journey.

Analysing the data from electronic tags retrieved from 47 Arctic Terns, the Newcastle University-led team has been able to characterise in unprecedented detail the route and stop-off points during this record-breaking bird's 90,000 km annual migration.

This includes:

An 8,000km, 24-day, non-stop flight over the Indian Ocean, feeding on the move

An overland detour from the Farne Irelands to the Irish Sea and over Ireland to the Atlantic

A short stay on the New Zealand coast before completing the final leg of their journey

A stop-off at Llangorse Lake, in the Brecon Beacons National Park, during their return journey in the Spring

Led by scientists at Newcastle University, UK, in collaboration with BBC's Springwatch and The National Trust, 53 adult birds nesting on the Farne Islands off the Northumberland coast were fitted with geolocators over a three year period.

Weighing just over 100 g the Arctic Tern has the longest migration of any bird, travelling all the way to Antarctica for the winter and back to the Farnes, which are owned and managed by the National Trust, to breed in the spring.

So far, 47 tags have been retrieved and the research team, led by Dr Chris Redfern of Newcastle University, are starting to analyse the data.

Continued

Booming population of migrating birds on Northumberland coast

Published: 07:00 Friday 08 September 2017

A tiny bird is booming in population thanks to conservation efforts on a stretch of the north Northumberland coast recently bought by the National Trust. More than 500 Arctic terns and five internationally-threatened little terns have fledged thanks to rangers camping out on 24-hour watch against predators, such as stoats and foxes. In the previous year, just two Arctic terns and five little terns, vulnerable to high tides and marine pollution, managed to take flight. The National Trust has been carrying out the extensive conservation efforts for decades to keep the birds going on the north Northumberland coast, but this summer, the charity acquired 200 acres of land at Tughall Mill for £1.5million to ensure its vital conservation work can continue. Only around 1,800 breeding pairs of Arctic terns return to the Long Nanny from Antarctica each year, between May and July. The Arctic tern hit headlines last year after one from the Farne Islands clocked up 59,650 miles in one migration, more than twice the circumference of the planet.

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