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Photo Credit: Mike Baird

The Arctic Tern, a petit seabird weighing no more than 3.5 oz (.22 lbs), spends the summer months in the Arctic enjoying what little sun it can get  before embarking on its incredible 43,000 mile journey across the world and back. A team of scientists from Greenland, Denmark, the US, the UK and Iceland outfitted the birds with “geolocaters” or tracking devices no bigger than the tip of a matchstick and followed the birds on their epic migratory voyage from  the Arctic to Antarctica and back again. These minute tracking devices allowed scientists to clearly plot the Arctic Tern’s yearly flight route on a global map, which gave incredible insight into the birds understanding of global wind patterns.

In August and September the birds begin their journey leaving Greenland for the shores of Antarctica but pit stop 620 miles away in the middle of the North Atlantic to fuel up on zooplankton and fish. Once fully fueled, they embark once more heading down the coast of Western Europe and Western Africa. They then make a choice of whether to continue all the way down the African coast or to cut across the Atlantic at the Cape Verde Islands to take the Brazilian coastal route. This decision is not really understood but it is thought that certain winds might make one route seem more desirable at the time.

After spending their Northern Hemisphere Winter Months in Antarctica, they begin their journey back home but instead of sticking to the same flight pattern they take an enormous S shape route, which increases their travel distance by over a thousand miles. This may seem odd, but when one looks at the global wind circulation patterns it becomes obvious. The Arctic Terns are taking the path of least resistance by always having the winds at their tail.

To read more visit BBC News