Where does this come from, and can I check it?

Tagged birds flew nearly 90,000 kilometres in one annual round trip. The figure is taken from NOAA, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a records & extremes fact?

Yes. It sits on the Records & Extremes shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

What else can I read about it?

The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

Arctic terns make the longest migration of any animal

Tagged birds flew nearly 90,000 kilometres in one annual round trip Arctic terns nest in the Arctic and winter in the Southern Ocean, travelling between the two poles each year. Tracking devices on birds from the Netherlands and Iceland recorded round trips of about 90,000 kilometres, the longest known animal migration. By following a winding route rather than a straight line they exploit prevailing winds in both directions. It sits in Mondo's records & extremes collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

NOAA

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Alpine swifts can stay airborne for over 200 daysTracking showed the birds never landed during their African winter Arctic terns complete the longest migration of any animalArctic terns fly about 90,000 kilometres annually from pole to pole.A godwit flew 11,000 kilometres without landingThe bar-tailed bird crossed the Pacific in about nine days Some swifts stay airborne for monthsRadio tracking shows common swifts flying without landing for most of the non-breeding season Voyager 1 is the farthest human made objectLaunched in 1977, it is now over 24 billion kilometres from Earth The monarch butterfly makes the longest insect migrationSome eastern monarchs travel about 4,800 kilometres to Mexico

Tags: birds, migration, distance

Arctic terns make the longest migration of any animal: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: Tagged birds flew nearly 90,000 kilometres in one annual round trip. The figure is taken from NOAA, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a records & extremes fact?: Yes. It sits on the Records & Extremes shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.