birdsoup

The Guinness Book of World Records credits the Arctic Tern with the longest migration.  Breeding on the tundra north of the Arctic Circle, this gull-like bird, flies south to Antarctica (it is summer down there), a distance of 12,000 miles.  In spring, it returns to the Arctic.  That is over 24,000 miles round trip every year.  Calling the southbound trip “fall migration” is something of a misnomer.  Because of the early onset of winter weather that far north, the Arctic Term actually begins heading south in July.  And doesn’t arrive on the wintering grounds until September.

My personal favorite as a migration champion is the tiny Ruby-throated Hummingbird.  Weighing 1/8 of an ounce, the Ruby-throated has the highest metabolism rate of any bird.  As a result, it normally eats 2 to 3 times per hour.  During fall migration many of them fly south to the Louisiana coast.  Once there they spend a week eating and “bulking up”.  Then they fly 400 miles non-stop across the Gulf of Mexico to Central America where they spend the winter.  That means a 20 hour flight over open water with no place to land or feed.  An amazing feat for a tiny creature that normally needs to feed every 20 minutes