Impressive distances: The Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea) is a medium-sized seabird known to make the longest annual migration in the animal kingdom. It flies every year a roundtrip from Greenland/Iceland to the Weddell Sea (Antarctica) and back again, a trip aproximately 70,900 km.
As Arctic terns can live for over 30 years, the total distance flown in a tern’s lifetime may exceed 2.4 million km, that’s equivalent to around 3 return journeys to the Moon!. Not bad for a bird 100 grams in weight.....
Simplified figure showing the yearly migration pattern of the Arctic tern. The southbound migration is shown by a yellow line. In spring, the northbound migration (white line) is conducted in a gigantic “S” shaped pattern through the Atlantic Ocean. How dynamic and creative Nature, existence, is.......
(information from http://www.arctictern.info/ and the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)
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