--- title: Arctic Tern Breaks Migration Record With 60,000-Mile Flight description: A bird weighing just 100 grams completing the longest migratory flight ever recorded — a whopping 60,000 miles canonical: https://time.com/4359453/arctic-tern-bird-migration-record/ author: Simon Lewis article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-07T08:24:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T22:25:53.387Z article:section: Science og:title: Bird Breaks Migration Record With 60,000-Mile Flight og:description: Arctic Tern could end up flying more than 1.8 million miles over its lifetime og:url: https://time.com/4359453/arctic-tern-bird-migration-record/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9e8d565442f68b28/698896bfe20a879571a91217/gettyimages-117487851.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4468 og:image:height: 2513 og:image:alt: Visitors Enjoy The Wildlife At The Farne Islands og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Bird Breaks Migration Record With 60,000-Mile Flight twitter:description: Arctic Tern could end up flying more than 1.8 million miles over its lifetime twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9e8d565442f68b28/698896bfe20a879571a91217/gettyimages-117487851.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Tiny Bird Breaks Migration Record With 60,000-Mile Flight > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Simon Lewis](https://time.com/author/simon-lewis/) ## Simon Lewis Jun 7, 2016 8:24 AM UTC  An Arctic Tern dives down to protect its nest on June 24, 2011 on Inner Farne, England An Arctic Tern dives down to protect its nest on June 24, 2011 on Inner Farne, England Dan Kitwood—Getty Images by [Simon Lewis](https://time.com/author/simon-lewis/) ## Simon Lewis Jun 7, 2016 8:24 AM UTC A bird weighing just 100 grams returned to an island off England’s northeastern coast last month after completing the longest migratory flight ever recorded. The Arctic Tern was one of 29 birds electronically tagged with ultra-light geolocators by researchers at Newcastle University who were working with the BBC’s _Springwatch_ television show, a [statement](http://www.ncl.ac.uk/press/news/2016/06/arcticterns/) says. The record-breaking bird set off from its breeding grounds on the Farne Islands off the coast of Northumberland in July 2015, tracing Africa’s west coast before flying for a time over the Indian Ocean. It then reached Antarctica, cruising over the Weddell Sea in February, before returning north to the United Kingdom, and arriving back on May 4\. The journey amounted to an estimated total of 96,000 kilometers, or 60,000 miles. Over the course of its lifetime, the bird could fly more than 1.8 million miles — or almost four trips to the moon and back — the researchers say. “For a bird that weighs less than an iPhone, that’s an amazing feat,” said lead researcher Chris Redfern. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4359453/arctic-tern-bird-migration-record/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4359453/arctic-tern-bird-migration-record/"},"headline":"Tiny Bird Breaks Migration Record With 60,000-Mile Flight","datePublished":"2016-06-07T08:24:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:25:53.387Z","description":"The record-breaking Arctic Tern could end up flying more than 1.8 million miles in its lifetime","url":"https://time.com/4359453/arctic-tern-bird-migration-record/","keywords":["animals","birds","Research","migration"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9e8d565442f68b28/698896bfe20a879571a91217/gettyimages-117487851.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Simon Lewis","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/simon-lewis/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9e8d565442f68b28/698896bfe20a879571a91217/gettyimages-117487851.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Visitors Enjoy The Wildlife At The Farne Islands","caption":"Visitors Enjoy The Wildlife At The Farne Islands","creditText":"Dan Kitwood—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4359453/arctic-tern-bird-migration-record/","name":"Tiny Bird Breaks Migration Record With 60,000-Mile Flight"}}]}] ```