Another longevity record, this time its a Tern

The Farne Islands in Northumberland is famous for its sea bird population and ringing has been done by the National Trust, in partnership with the Natural History Society of Northumbria Ringing Group giving a great insight into their birds movements and life spans.

One of these birds, Arctic Tern CE60645, was ringed on 28th June 1980 and has been recaptured this year, making it the oldest Arctic Tern in the UK!


The arctic tern was recently discovered to have the longest migration route of any animal, flying an estimated 44,000 miles return trip, between their breeding grounds in Greenland to Antarctica in an ‘S’ shape to take advantage of prevailing global wind systems in order to preserve energy.

Click here to go to the BBC news website for more information.

Thanks to Jill Pakenham for the photo.