{"id":31340,"date":"2023-08-11T15:46:15","date_gmt":"2023-08-11T13:46:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/?p=78881"},"modified":"2023-08-11T17:36:56","modified_gmt":"2023-08-11T15:36:56","slug":"whats-the-worlds-longest-bird-migration","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/whats-the-worlds-longest-bird-migration\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s the world\u2019s longest bird migration?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two summers a year? Yes please! Meet the bird that, thanks to its mammoth migration, enjoys two summers a year <\/p>

By BBC Wildlife Magazine\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 11 August 2023 at 13:46 PM<\/p>

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The honour of world\u2019s longest bird migration goes to the Arctic tern, a species that could equally have been named the Antarctic tern.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

After breeding in the far north, it heads to the opposite end of the globe to enjoy the southern hemisphere\u2019s summer. As the crow flies, this would be 12,000km each way, but the terns take a more meandering route. One tagged individual clocked nearly 97,000km for the round trip.<\/p>\n

Because of this mammoth journey arctic terns see two summers per year, and consequently more daylight than any other animal on earth.<\/p>\n

Learn how groups of\u00a0arctic terns make their epic migration<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

You could spot them in the UK as in the summer months breeding colonies can be found in northern coastal areas, primarily Shetland and Orkney, but also islands off Anglesea in Wales, and on the Isle of Man.<\/p>\n