Arctic Canada songbird’s migration to Africa one of the longest in the world

A female wheatear with a light level geolocator attached to its back. A tiny songbird weighing the same as just two tablespoons of sugar migrates from the Arctic to Africa and back, a distance of up to 29,000 kilometres, scientists reported. (PHOTO BY HEIKO SCHMALJOHANN/, AFP/GETTY IMAGES/POSTMEDIA NEWS)

HEATHER YUNDT
Postmedia News

A small songbird from the Canadian Arctic and Alaska is migrating thousands of kilometres each year to Africa, new research shows — making one of the longest seasonal journeys of any such bird in the world.

A study published in the journal Biology Letters on Wednesday found that the 25-gram northern wheatear follows two routes to Africa.

One population in Alaska flies about 14,500 kilometres west each year to winter in East Africa.

Another population in the Canadian Arctic crosses the North Atlantic to make a four-day journey of about 3,400 kilometres from Baffin Island to Great Britain, before continuing another 4,000 kilometres to West Africa.

Though the Canadian Arctic bird’s distance is shorter, the unpredictable weather conditions on the Atlantic Ocean are more severe, researchers say.

The Canadian Arctic bird eats enough insects to double its body mass before making the journey. The fat provides the energy reserves necessary for what the researchers say is most likely a non-stop, journey. Researchers do not yet know how many birds die along the way.

The scientists have long suspected the northern wheatear’s migratory path, but geolocators were previously too heavy to be placed on a bird of this size. The researchers attached new, lighter geolocators to the birds to track their route.

The research team included Ryan Norris of the University of Guelph, David Hussell of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, and scientists from the Institute of Aviation Research in Germany.

This is the first research to provide evidence that migratory songbirds are capable of linking the African and Arctic ecosystems.