This new theme, dedicated to bird migration in general (except White Stork and Black Stork, which have own themes on our forum: White Stork - http://www.bocianyzprzygodzic.pun.pl/vi … php?id=59, Black Stork -http://www.bocianyzprzygodzic.pun.pl/viewforum.php?id=60), is an idea of Brit from Germany, thanks! :)
You can give here every interesting link, own observation or information about migrating birds.
best regards
Pawe³ T. Dolata
South Wielkopolska Group of Polish Society for the Protection of Birds (Bird Life International partner in Poland) http://www.pwg.otop.org.pl
http://www.bociany.ec.pl - "Close to Storks" nest camera of White Storks in Przygodzice
From the Estonian forum Looduskalender I would like to post the link to the Migration map there, where you not only get informations about the seven tagged (with a GPS sender) black storks, ( I posted in the black stork theme), but also about osprey ‘Erika’, the greater spotted eagles Tõnn and Iti , and the three Eurasian cranes Rasina, Juula, Ahja, which are breeding in Estonia and now are on their way, or even arrived at their winter habitat. Please go to the Migration map and look yourself, where are now all these lovely birds
For example:
October 5 2010 Greater Spotted Eagle Tõnn is still in Germany
The first days of October in Near East were very suitable for migrants, for example during 2nd of October about 20 000 lesser spotted eagles passed Jordan Valley, as informed our colleague Ohad Hatzofe from Israel.
Tõnn was yesterday late evening still in Germany, nearly 3km north of down Emsdetten. But the locations are not exact (Argos), therefore not put on map. Bird watchers in Netherlands, Luxemburg and Belgium should be observant...
The osprey Erika arrived to wintering site at Ar Rahad river, Sudan.
On the HP from BirgitK Iberia-Nature there are some wonderful photo reports from Birgits experiences about Birds Migration
Satellite telemetry of Eleonora’s Falcon Falco eleonorae
I am very happy that Brit (Moderator from forum in Papendorf) joined us. I am also glad that Pawel, following Brit's idea, opened this new theme about bird migration. :good:
Let me present something interesting from my country - Greece. This is satellite telemetry of Eleonora’s Falcon migration.
Greece hosts around 85% of global breeding population of the Eleonora’s Falcon, meaning that more than 12,000 pairs breed every year in Greece.
Four Eleonora’s Falcons from Greece (2 adults and 2 juveniles) were equipped with satellite transmitters in their colony on the island of Andros.
So, we have a chance for tracking of Eleonora’s Falcons migration from Greece to their wintering areas in SE Africa and Madagascar, in order to investigate the migration routes followed by the birds.
The four birds we called: Voreas, Iris, Notos and Zephyr (nice and pure Greek).
Here you can see some photos and read more in English: http://www.ornithologiki.gr/page_cn.php?tID=2562
The map with migration you can see here: http://www.ornithologiki.gr/page_cn.php?tID=2563
Best regards
Eva Stets and Roula Trigou*
Hellenic Ornithological Society (HOS)
* Roula Trigou is Public Awareness Projects Coordinator (HOS)
Eva Stets napisa³:
Satellite telemetry of Eleonora’s Falcon Falco eleonorae
How exciting, dear Eva, thank you. I just went to wikipedia to find out a little more about the Eleonora's Falcon, which is not living here in the area. What a fascinating bird! Thank you!
Here are some postings about the bird migration in Estonia until now:
Submitted by Looduskalender on 21 September 2010 - 1:32pm
Crane migration seriously under way
Submitted by Looduskalender on 6 October 2010 - 10:11am
Birdwatch days: preliminary results
Submitted by Looduskalender on 8 October 2010 - 9:14pm
Comparing migrants
Submitted by Looduskalender on 10 October 2010 - 1:26pm
Domestic duck ancestors
Submitted by Looduskalender on 12 October 2010 - 4:15pm
Greylag geese and bean geese migrating
Submitted by Looduskalender on 12 October 2010 - 4:24pm
About white-fronted geese
Submitted by Looduskalender on 12 October 2010 - 4:37pm
Migrating blackbirds
By the way, if you rather would like to read all the entries in 'German language, please click in the uper right corner of the Looduskalender site to [DE]
12.10.2010 Cranes on migration map
You probably already noticed, that here are new birds on migration map since mid September, the Cranes. We can follow the migration routes of three juvenile Cranes from eastern Estonia. Yesterday, 11 of Oct, we got last data, but these are correct only for Rasina, but weak for other two (Ahja and Juula). So the last locations for Ahja and Juula are from almost same area in eastern Hungary (their wintering site?), but Rasina's last location shows its migration direction to more east.
Research about Cranes is made by scientists of Estonian University of Life Sciences and that team started just to participate on VII Crane conference in Stralsund. Maybe there will shown also current map...
Submitted by Looduskalender on 14 October 2010 - 12:32pm
Check the Migration Map
14.10.2010 Greater Spotted Eagle Tõnn is arriving to Spain
The internal navigation system ("GPS") of Tõnn works well. Inspite he uses completely new autumn migration route, the destination (El Hondo wetland) seems surely fixed and most suitable track is followed. Today morning Tõnn was only 14km of Spanish border and probably today he arrives to the wintering country. Last location is not completely exact, but more-less the same place. If we get more data during today, then location will corrected.
What a fascinating story! Please have a look at the Allan Hummingbirds in Northern California
A home for Hummingbirds
Observations on bird migration over the Bosphorus - March 2011
After making contact with the Turkish ornithologists, we received from a colleague - Ömral Ünsal ÖZKOÇ from the faculty of Marmara Bilogii Üniversitesi (also Istanbul Birdwatching Society member) - a summary of counts of birds migrating over the Bosphorus during March 2011 (see table below).
The table shows summarized counting from several points of observation for the period from 1 to 31 March. Unfortunately, the names of birds are listed in Turkish only (using of auto-translator may be helpful). But for simplicity, please note, that the name "Sahin" refers to Common Buzzard and the name "Leylek" means White Stork.
As you can see, the highest number (after the White Storks) of birds flying over the Bosphorus this spring, were Buzzards.
According to data of Istanbul Birdwatching Society, in March 2011, a total of 54 960 Buzzards flew over the Bosporus.
The project of observation of birds migrating over the Bosphorus is coordinated by: Hürmüz Yenice, and Kerem Ergün Bacak Ali Boyla.
Precise maps for March and more information are available at: http://ikgt.org/?page_id=7
Best regards Eva Stets & Eleni Makrigianni (Evros Delta Visitor Centre)
World Migratory Bird Day 2011, celebrated around the world on 14-15 May
From Birdlife International: Migrants under threat.
World Migratory Bird Day start in 2006 and it is an annual campaign backed by the United Nations and is devoted to celebrating migratory birds and promoting their conservation worldwide...
More about you can read in Birdlife International website: http://www.birdlife.org/community/2011/ … er-threat/
There is also a short (very nice) video with title World Migratory Bird Day 2011: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuBJNgVE … r_embedded
With best wishes
Eva Stets
The internet wildlife magazine "Wildlife Extra.com" published in October 2011 a report about a "record-breaking kingfisher" from Poland, which was caught and released by members of Landguard Bird Observatory, part of the Orford Ness Nature Reserve on the Suffolk coast of England. The bird's journey is believed to be one of the longest migrations (in excess of 1,000 kilometres) among the Kingfishers in the UK ringing database, and is also exceptional in that it originated at the most easterly point from the UK to date.
For more information, please refer to the link below:
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/ki … on.html#cr
"Suffolk kingfisher migrated from Poland"
The long-distance-flying kingfisher also caught the attention of BBC News Suffolk, who ran the following item on 24 October 2011, complete with a photograph of the bird together with the ring which allowed the observatory volunteers to establish its "nationality" and ringing scheme (Gdañsk, Poland):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-15429197
Bewick's Swans and other wildfowl species online from WWT Slimbridge, UK
Bewick's Swans Cygnus columbianus bewickii overwintering at the famous Wetland and Wildfowl Trust station in Slimbridge, England, UK, have been found to be making a stopover at Przygodzice Ponds, Poland - another famous place for nature lovers, where White Stork Ciconia ciconia nest camera www.bociany.ec.pl has been active since 2006!
It was only relatively recently that numbers of these swans were reported to stop in the southern part of the Wielkopolska region in Poland on their way to Siberia. The first four confirmed readings of their rings were recorded in the spring of 1997 at Przygodzice Ponds. All four birds (three of them were a family) had been ringed at Slimbridge. During their spring migrations, they have been found to conquer the distance of more than 1,300 kilometres (in straight line, “as the swan flies”) between Slimbridge and Przygodzice in just 2 or 3 days. Previously, during their autumn flights from Siberia, on 25th October 1996 the same family was also recorded (and filmed by the BBC) on Estonian lake Peipsi, near the Russian border.
Since then, Bewick's swan families and individual birds have been observed on Przygodzice Ponds with increasing regularity during their autumn and spring migrations between the Siberian tundra and wetlands in Western Europe, in UK and Netherlands mainly (subsequently there was no proof that observed birds were actually from Slimbridge, although some were from the Russian WWT expedition). For example, last Sunday (19th November 2011) one group of Bewick's Swans (9 adults and two young) was seen at Przygodzice Ponds by Pawe³ T. Dolata from South Wielkopolska Group of the Polish Society for the Protection of Birds (OTOP, BirdLife International's partner in Poland).
It is worth noting that the Slimbridge swans are the subject of long-standing extensive scientific research by WWT staff. The birds are not only ringed but also identified by their unique black-and-yellow beak markings, different in each individual. In addition, they are given individual names. The patron of the Wetland and Wildfowl Trust is Queen Elizabeth the II, and the Trust has the Prince of Wales as its president.
More on the Slimbridge swans here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/uk/webcams/ … k/webcams/ (live camera transmission, daily 10:00-16:30 , and Fridays 14:00-23:00 GMT)
http://www.wwt.org.uk/news/wwt-diaries/ … wan-diary/ (blog by Julia Newth, Bewick's swan specialist at Slimbridge)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Tundra … n#p00lr2k1 (information on Bewick's swans, including instructions on beak pattern recognition)
An interesting article summing up this season's bird migration as observed in the British Isles can be found on:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/natureuk/201 … -a-r.shtml
The authors point out, among other things, that more avian visitors from Eastern Europe and western areas of Russia are soon expected as the temperatures in those regions continue to drop. The birds we can expect to arrive should include Bewick's swan, pochard, goldeneye and smew, and also more geese and thrushes.
Important information for television viewers who have access to the BBC1 channel, directly or through satellite coverage, and also perhaps those able to access BBC1 through the internet television service:
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/
Tomorrow, on Thursday 29th December, BBC1 begins a new wildlife series in its nature programmes, entitled EARTHFLIGHT. It is scheduled to be shown at 8:00 pm GMT.
According to introductory notes in the Radio Times magazine, the six programmes, each lasting one hour, will concentrate almost exclusively on wild bird flight, each covering birds from a different continent. The main narrative in the first programme of the series will cover the migratory journey of five million snow geese travelling from the Gulf of Mexico to their Arctic breeding grounds (some of them becoming prey to bald eagles on the way) and passing some of North America's natural and man-made landmarks such as Monument Valley, the Mississippi River, and New York's Statue of Liberty. The programme's cameras have apparently captured "some of the most incredible wild behaviour ever filmed".
It looks as if the series, described as "stunning", "astonishing", and "another natural history epic", will become a must-see for anyone interested in wild birds, their flight and the amazing phenomenon of bird migration.
So don't forget to "tune in" to TV's BBC1 channel at 8:00 tomorrow evening!
Cranes getting confused over their migration routes?
A rare Asian hooded crane, Grus monacha, of a species that breeds in south-central and south-eastern Siberia and possibly Mongolia, and normally overwinters in southern Japan, South Korea, and China, has apparently taken "a wrong turn" in its winter migration this year and arrived at the Hiwassee Refuge in southeastern Tennessee, USA, well outside its normal range. It appeared at the refuge in mid-December and joined some sandhill cranes there, creating instant sensation among birdwatchers at the centre. It is not thought likely that the bird could have escaped from captivity, as it has no bands or other markings.
Melinda Welton, conservation chair for the Tennessee Ornithological Society and a bird migration researcher, commented that people were "coming in from all over the country to see this bird. Curious watchers have come from 26 states and from two countries, including Russia." A local birdwatcher added that this is the highlight of the century for birders in southeast Tennessee.
For more information, see
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildli … -turn.html
A reader of the above article commented that a rare Sandhill crane Grus canadensis was observed in Scotland this autumn before continuing along the English coast to East Anglia for a few days, and then flying off in the direction of central Iberian peninsula, where it was last reported. It was only the fourth- or fifth-ever record of this species in the British Isles.
Reminder:
For television viewers who have access to the BBC1 channel, directly or through satellite coverage, and also perhaps those able to access BBC1 through the internet television service:
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/
Today, Thursday 5th January 2012, BBC1 will be showing the second programme of the new wildlife series EARTHFLIGHT. It is scheduled for 8:00 pm GMT. Online link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 … ht_Africa/
The series concentrates almost exclusively on wild bird flight, including migratory travels. Each programme covers birds from a different continent. Last week's programme, which was really worth watching for its astounding photography and many amazing, rare and spectacular wildlife shots and scenes, focussed on North America. Today it is Africa. Preview notes are a bit unclear, but seem to indicate that, among other birds, such as vultures, cape gannets, and flamingoes, tonight's programme may also feature storks. A must for our forum members and guests, then! :)
Happy viewing!
P.S. For a good review of episode one, see:
http://www.indielondon.co.uk/TV-Review/ … e-reviewed
Hurricane Katia responsible for throwing North American birds off migration routes as far as south-west Britain
According to the RSPB and the Cornwall Birding Association, last autumn and this winter birdwatchers in Cornwall have been observing an exceptional number of wild birds from North America that have been blown off course in their migratory travels by Hurricane Katia which hit the East Coast of the US in early autumn. Unfortunately, a number of birds arrived exhausted after the lengthy and difficult journey, and it is feared that some will not survive.
The 18 native North American species reported included wading birds such as greater yellowlegs, lesser yellowlegs, buff breasted sandpiper and spotted sandpiper, and also small birds like the scarlet tanager and red-eyed vireo. These species normally migrate from North to South America. Some are occasionally seen as vagrants in England, but this season their numbers have been exceptional. The greater yellowlegs and the scarlet tanager have both only ever been recorded in Cornwall on one other occasion.
More information and photos in BBC News Online, South West of 24 December 2011:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-16088864
What Did the Cuckoo Do in the Congo? Satellite tracking project may get the common cuckoo to reveal its migration secrets
As reported in the BIRDWATCH magazine of 7th January 2012, a BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) satellite tracking project is expected to give ornithologists new exciting and important insights into the behaviour, habits and routes of migrating common cuckoos. Five British-hatched male birds, named Chris, Martin, Lyster, Kasper and Clement, are being followed as they make their winter homes in the West African forests of the Congo basin.
The common cuckoo is now one of Britain's fastest-declining summer visitors, its numbers having decreased dramatically - by more than 50 percent - over the last 25 years. Little is known about its life outside its summer breeding sites in Britain and continental Europe. It is hoped that new information about its migration routes and habits may lead to better understanding of the reasons for the decline of this elusive bird, which in turn could contribute to its conservation.
As they continue in their migration journey, each individually named bird can be followed on the BTO's website, using regularly updated maps.
Details and more information here:
http://www.birdwatch.co.uk/channel/news … te=__11639
http://www.bto.org/science/migration/tr … o-tracking
Reminder:
For television viewers who have access to the TV BBC1 channel, either directly in the UK or through satellite coverage, and also perhaps those able to access BBC1 through the internet television service:
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/
Today, Thursday 12th January 2012, TV BBC1 will be showing the third episode of the new wildlife series EARTHFLIGHT. It is scheduled for 8:00 pm GMT. On-line URL link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 … ht_Europe/
The series concentrates almost exclusively on wild bird life and flight, including migratory travels. Each programme covers birds from a different continent. Episodes one and two concentrated on North America and Africa respectively. Today's episode focuses on bird life of Europe. Preview notes indicate that the birds followed on film will include storks, and also cranes, geese, starlings, gannets, sand martins, and more. Judging by the two earlier episodes, this one too will be worth recording!
Happy viewing!
Reminder:
For television viewers who have access to the TV BBC1 channel, either directly in the UK or through satellite coverage, and also perhaps those able to access BBC1 through the internet television service:
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/
Today, Thursday 19th January 2012, TV BBC1 will be showing the fourth episode of the new wildlife series EARTHFLIGHT. It is scheduled for 8:00 pm GMT. On-line URL link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 … h_America/
The series concentrates almost exclusively on wild bird life and flight, especially migratory travels. Each programme covers birds from a different continent. Episodes one and two concentrated, respectively, on North America, Africa and Europe. Today's episode focuses on bird life of South America. Preview notes indicate that the birds followed on film will include condors, and also giant petrels, vultures, macaws, hummingbirds, and more. "Flying" alongside the birds, we will see some great signs of the continent, including Machu Picchu, the Nazca lines, Patagonia, and the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Santiago.
Judging by the earlier episodes, this one too will be worth recording!
Remember, if you missed it, you can still see it later on: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 … h_America/ - provided you have paid access to that service.
Happy viewing!
Reminder:
For television viewers who have access to the TV BBC1 channel, either directly in the UK or through satellite coverage, and also perhaps those able to access BBC1 through the internet television service:
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/
Today, Thursday 26th January 2012, TV BBC1 will be showing the fifth episode of the new wildlife series EARTHFLIGHT. It is scheduled for 8:00 pm GMT. On-line URL link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 … Australia/
The series concentrates almost exclusively on wild bird life and flight, especially migratory travels. Each programme covers birds from a different continent. Today's episode focuses on bird life of Asia and Australia. Programme notes tell us that we shall be watching demoiselle cranes negotiating a dangerous Himalayan pass on their way to India while high-flying bar-headed geese take the fast track five miles above them; in Rajasthan, we shall see vultures, and pigeons visiting a temple dedicated solely to sacred rats; in a desert town, we can watch nine thousand cranes overwinter inside a barbed wire compound; in Australia, the programme shows lorikeets, cockatoos and budgerigars - the latter in a biggest flock ever recorded. Then we'll move on to China and Japan, where the programme follows swallows, swifts, Japanese cranes, white-tailed eagles and Steller's eagles.
Judging by the earlier episodes, this one too will be worth recording!
Remember, if you missed it, you can still see it later on: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 … Australia/ - provided you have paid access to that service.
Happy viewing!
Spring has sprung in the world of British birds: First groups of avocets have been observed arriving for their summer season in the British Isles: in WWT Washington, Tyne and Wear: http://www.wwt.org.uk/visit-us/washingt … sightings/ - see under 2 Mar; and in WWT Martin Mere, Lancashire:
http://www.wwt.org.uk/news/all-news/201 … nd-centre/
6th May 2012
A while ago we wrote in this thread (12/01/2012) about the pioneering project designed by scientists from the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) to satellite-track tagged wild cuckoos in order to map their migration routes to and from Africa. Yesterday, this year's initial results have been announced in the BBC online nature magazine, "BBC Nature News". So far, two of the tagged male birds, Lyster and Chris, have returned to Britain, one of them (Lyster) remarkably, to an area within 10 miles from where he had left last autumn.
Sadly, Clement, the young male cuckoo which "showcased" the project, has been lost in Cameroon on his return journey.
Nevertheless, Phil Atkinson, head of international research at the BTO, who personally spotted Lyster, the first returning cuckoo, in the Norfolk Broads on Tuesday, is more than delighted with the progress of the project. The first-ever accurate cuckoo migration map which has been drawn thanks to the satellite tracking devices has now revealed, for the first time, exactly where the birds spend the winter and just how brief is the time that these so-called British birds actually spend in Britain.
More on this in the following link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/17895997
Conservationists committed to stop the cuckoo vanishing from Britain
The evocative call of the male cuckoo announcing his presence to attract a mate is arguably the most iconic sound heralding the arrival of summer in the British Isles. But it is becoming more and more rare to hear it these days.
As previously reported in posts in this thread, populations of the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) in Britain are still dwindling at an alarming rate. Overall, the numbers of breeding pairs have halved since the 1980s, and in the lowlands of south Devon - traditionally one of the cuckoo's key breeding areas - they have decreased by as much as 80 percent.
Work continues on British Trust for Ornithology's project to study the causes of the gradual dwindling of the cuckoo populations. The latest stage of the project has been launched on Dartmoor, in collaboration with conservationists from the National Trust. The project aims to satellite-track tagged wild cuckoos in order to map their winter migration routes to and from Africa, and then study the findings in order to find the reasons for the decline of the cuckoo in Britain and to take steps to help the birds breed here in larger numbers again. It has already been established that cuckoos leave the UK much earlier than previously believed, and that birds from different regions of the British Isles take different routes to Africa, some more dangerous than others, not only because of weather and environmental hazards but because of barbaric hunting practices in many countries along their routes. More information here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-23867438
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/ … tory-bird. (this link courtesy of Eva Stets)
But there may be a new hazard for the cuckoos with satellite tracking devices that travel to their winter quarters in Africa. War and political unrest in countries on the routes of migrating birds have resulted in a bizarre but all-too-real danger. Reports are coming in increasingly that birds carrying satellite transmitters have been captured and "arrested" on suspicion of enemy espionage. In recent weeks, a satellite-tagged white stork from Hungary was caught in Egypt, "detained under arrest" and accused of being an agent of Western intelligence. When this story became reported in the media, energetic efforts by local bird conservationists finally resulted in the poor stork being "acquitted" and released to continue on his journey. But there was no happy ending, as within hours the bird - which was most likely exhausted and disoriented by his ordeal - was, again, caught by local peasants, and then killed and eaten. This tragic incident caught the attention of the British media: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article … -Nile.html .
In another, equally bizarre case, a griffon vulture equipped with a satellite transmitter was similarly captured and "arrested" in Saudi Arabia, accused of being a secret agent acting for Israeli intelligence: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world … 93578.html
Let us hope that the migration routes of the cuckoos travelling from Britain to spend the European winter season in Africa do not traverse those countries! Perhaps the cuckoo will be safer than other species, as these birds are relatively small and very shy, so maybe not so easy to capture - provided that they do not fall victims of the unspeakably cruel practices of netting the migratory birds that are, unfortunately, so widespread in the region.
On a personal note, I have lived in the UK for more than 30 years, but have so far never heard the cuckoo call here. I happen to live in the town of Reading, which has a special association with the cuckoo. It was here that the musical notation and the words - in Middle English - of a historically very important early folk song about the cuckoo ("Sumer is icumen in, lhude sing cuccu") were for the very first time recorded, in the thirteenth century, by a monk in Reading Abbey, right next door to my parish church.
I do hope the findings of the BTO scientists and conservationists will eventually lead to helping that unique bird survive and thrive in these isles, so that I can one day listen to a cuckoo as it announces the arrival of early summer in Britain!
A Record-Breaking Bird Flies Sixteen Thousand Miles in a Round Trip Between Britain and South America
In a longest-recorded migratory journey for a European breeding bird, a red-necked phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus) was recently found to travel a remarkable 16,000 miles (25,800 kilometres) in a round-trip flight between Shetland and Peru.
This phalarope, a small, delicate wader that breeds in the Arctic regions of North America and Eurasia is a migratory bird, and, unusually for a wader, it normally overwinters at sea on tropical oceans. It is one of Britain’s rarest birds, with only about 15 nesting sites in the Shetlands and the Western Isles. The birds arrive in Scotland in mid to late May and mate and raise their young before setting off again in July or August. In a reversal of gender roles, the more brightly coloured female often leaves the male sitting on the eggs while she looks for new mates.
It has been thought that after breeding in Scotland, the birds set off eastwards to winter in the Arabian sea. But a tracking device weighing less than a paperclip and worn like a backpack has now revealed they go somewhere else entirely. After leaving the Shetlands, a bird wearing the sensor headed directly to the west across the north Atlantic, via Iceland and Greenland, then down the eastern seaboard of North America into the Caribbean. He then crossed into the Pacific where he wintered in the warm waters of Ecuador and Peru before returning back by more or less the same route.
This incredible journey is the longest recorded for a bird that breeds in Europe, and one of the world’s great migrations, especially for such a small, delicate bird. A single red-necked phalarope normally weighs less than a packet of crisps.
Malcolm Smith of the RSPB said: ‘To think this bird, which is smaller than a starling, can undertake such an arduous journey and return safely to Shetland is truly extraordinary.’
Despite their marathon migration the red-necked phalarope does not hold the world record. This is reserved for the arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea), which travels a colossal 43,000 miles in a round trip between the two poles. That makes it the ultimate long-distance traveller.
(based on: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-25667007
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ … z2qWPI6HXq )