Arctic Terns Sterna paradisaea from the Netherlands Migrate Record Distances Across Three Oceans to Wilkes Land, East Antarctica

摘要

ArcticTernsSternaparadisaeahaveanexceptionallylong-distancemigration,annuallytravellingbackandforthbetweentheArcticandtheAntarctic.BirdsfromGreenland,IcelandandtheUSAwererecentlyfoundtospendmostofthenon-breedingperiodintheWeddellSea,asmallpartofthelargeAntarcticrangeofArcticTerns.BasedonringrecoveriesandsightingsofWestEuropeanArcticTernsintheIndianOceanandAustralianwaters,weexpectedthatternsfromTheNetherlands(thesouthernlimitofthebreedingrange)inhabitdifferentAntarcticregionsduringthenon-breedingseasontotheirconspecificsfromGreenland.Tofindout,geolocatorsweredeployedonsevenArcticTernscapturedonthenestin2011inTheNetherlands.Allbirdswererecapturedin2012andfivedevicesyieldedinformationonmigrationroutes.Thetrackedternsspentonaverage273?±7daysawayfromTheNetherlands,andvisitedknownstagingareasintheNorthAtlanticandtheBenguelaCurrent,onboththeoutwardandreturnjourney.SimilartrackswereobservedintheternsfromGreenland.However,hereaftertheternsfromTheNetherlandsmovedtoapreviouslyunknownstagingareainthecentralIndianOcean,between20a€“40?°Nand65a€“100?°E,andspentmostofthenon-breedingseasonintheSouthernOceanbetween35a€“150?°E.OnebirdmigratedasfarasNewZealand.Eventually,allfivebirdsspenttheaustralsummerinWilkesLand,Antarctica,beforeflyingbacktothebreedingcolonieswithasmalldetourtothesameNorthAtlanticstagingareatheyvisitedontheirsouthwardmigration.Thetotaltraveldistanceinthecourseofthenon-breedingperiodwasa??90,000?±2000km,whichsubstantiallyexceedspreviousestimatesforthisspecies.Ourstudyrevealednewoffshorestagingareasandayetunknownroutethroughthreedifferentoceans,thelongestbirdmigrationdescribedthusfar.