This article is from Jun 20, 2021

Arctic Tern, visit decreased at Forney Islands this year! Covid Restrictions indirectly affects the World longest migrating birds too!

The longest-distance migratory bird in the world is the so-called ” Arctic Turn “, which weighs just 113 grams. It is surprising us by the distance it travels throughout its life is about three times the distance it travels to the existing earth.

Researchers usually attach a transmitter to a bird’s legs to record and research the migration distance, duration, and flight of different types of birds. Until recently such monitoring devices were placed only on the legs of large birds.

Although the Arctic tern was known to travel long distances, it was the lightest bird, so its travel distance was only predictable. In this case, a system called the British Antarctic Survey developed a surveillance device that weighed just 1.4 grams to find the travel distances of the Arctic Turn Bird.

Arctic terns are very lightweight birds with short legs and wings that can travel long distances very gracefully as if sliding in the sky in the blowing wind. A tracking device was built on the legs of such a bird.

The beaches and breeding Arctic Turns of the Arctic and Subarctic regions of Europe, Asia and North America, in general, make trips to the Antarctic Pole as its annual voyage. The trajectory of the Arctic Turn is curved without a single straight line and travels in a “zig-zag” pattern, making it widely visible on all continents and seas around the world.

Source – The Hindu

An Arctic Tern Bird built a surveillance device from the Farney Islands in the UK in July 2015, begins its voyage and reaches the Antarctic Ocean in February 2016. Then back from there in May 2016, she completed her voyage to the Faroe Islands. This travel distance is about 60,000 miles (over 96 thousand kilometres). This distance is twice the circumference of the world.

Researchers say that if you look at the thousands of kilometres around Africa and the Indian Ocean without travelling straight from the North Pole, the bird makes this trip for the right reason. He said, “They follow the big vortex in the atmosphere and do this to avoid getting caught in the wind.”

During this long voyage, the bird stops three times a month in the open sea for about a month. Researchers say the reason for this may be the meal break.

Arctic terns live for approximately 30 years or more. According to these travel calculations, they move about 1.5 million miles (2.4 million kilometres) in their lifetime. This equals about three times the distance travelled between the moon and the earth!

“It’s not clear why Arctic turns make such a long migration. Probably a factor as to why they’re doing so poorly in the Arctic and Antarctic. ”

Like all migratory animals, birds migrate to use the food available in certain seasons. Richard Bevan, one of the members of the Observatory, described the Arctic Turns’ life as an “incredibly powerful way of life.”

This annual holiday trip of the Arctic Turns has undergone some changes due to the current corona epidemic.

Picture showing overgrown vegetation and a lack of birds
Twitter users said the air would normally be full of Arctic terns and vegetation was also looking overgrown (Source BBC)

The Inner Forney Islands in Britain’s Northumberland Farne Islands are an ideal part of the Arctic Bird. The breeding of Arctic Turns during the summer has long been the most interesting aspect of the Farney Islands tourism experience. During the breeding season, a large number of visitors flock to Interfarni Island to photograph dozens of nests along the main road. In this case, the Arctic Turns are very empty, with no Arctic turns this year.

Usually, the rangers of the National Trust are involved in plant management and create breeding grounds for Arctic birds. Currently, under corona control, the rangers are gone and the plants are not properly maintained. This is why it is alleged that the birds did not come to the island this year.

Activists and people there said, “This mismanagement has wasted many years of effort. The island will never be the same again. ”

Links :

arctic-tern-makes-longest-ever-migration-equal-to-flying-twice-around-the-planet

worlds-longest-migration-arctic-tern-bird

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/facts/arctic-tern

Overgrown Farne Island plants spark Arctic tern nesting fears

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