Taking the long way

Flight is one of the most astonishing of avian attributes. Speeding falcons, graceful egrets, and the aerial acrobatics of courting hummingbirds leave me in awe.

Perhaps the most astounding aspect of flight is one that we cannot see — birds’ ability to cover distances, sometimes incredible distances. Consider the Blackpoll Warbler that breeds in the boreal forests of Canada and winters in the Amazon basin of South America. That’s a hefty jaunt.

But it’s the truly long-distance migrants that challenge believability. The Arctic Tern is the world’s champion long-distance migrant. It breeds in the circumpolar