By Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent, BBC News

"Arctic tern (Carsten Egevang)

The study adds surprising new detail to the Arctic tern's epic migration


The Arctic tern's extraordinary pole-to-pole migration has been detailed by an international team of scientists.

The researchers fitted the birds with tiny tracking devices to see precisely which routes the animals took on their 70,000km (43,000 miles) round trip.

The study reveals they fly down either the African or Brazilian coasts but then return in an "S"-shaped path up the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

The long-distance adventure is described in the US journal PNAS. "

"From ringing, we knew where the Arctic tern travelled," said Carsten Egevang of the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources.

   

Migration routes (http://www.arctictern.info/)

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