Ancient murrelets , Synthliboramphus antiquus , are hefty little seabird that are mostly black and blanched but with a grey back that looks like a robe shawl . ( That ’s where the “ ancient ” part of their name number from . ) And harmonize to a Modern study published inIbis , they ’re the only nautical bird that ’s known to make eastward - west migrations across the total width of the North Pacific – though researchers are n’t sure why . AsNew Scientistputs it , they move 8,000 kilometers ( 5,000 miles ) across the ocean and then again in reverse for no cleared reason .
In 2013,Environment Canada ’s Anthony Gastonand confrere deployed geolocators on ancient murrelets cover in Haida Gwaii , British Columbia . Four of these gizmos were retrieved the following year . Based on their longitude positions , all four birds quickly move west after multiply in July , and three of them reached the waters between Japan and China by November . The return head trip was even more rapid : It began in February , and by March , they had touched down in Haida Gwaii .
But why did they pass over the huge Pacific only to migrate between areas with similar climate ? The waters around Japan are as temperate as North American water , which support many other maritime bird . “ I do n’t know of any other bird that hide such a long distance from east to west , ” Gaston tellsNew Scientist , “ especially when it winds up in waters that are very interchangeable to those it just left . ”
The birdie in all likelihood flew at least a couple hundred kilometers every day over several hours . Theirs is also the long migration memorialise in any bird from the familyAlcidae , which also includes puffin and auklets .
“ The whole thing is a bit of a mystery,”Gaston adds . “ It seems like an awful tenacious way to go for no obvious profit . ” Based on genetical analysis , the ancient murrelet originated in Asia and only recently colonize North America , New Scientist account . And it ’s possible that they ’re just reconstruct the route their ancestors take to colonize a new continent .
Top image citation : Eric Ellingson / Flickr
