Scientists identify previously unknown Whimbrel migration pathway over open Atlantic Ocean

Wednesday, August 15, 2012 - 09:01 in Earth & Climate

(Phys.org) -- Scientists at the College of William & Mary/Virginia Commonwealth University Center for Conservation Biology (CCB) at the VCU Rice Center have tracked three whimbrels off the east coast of Canada to the northern shore of South America via a previously unknown migration pathway over the open Atlantic Ocean. The route passed through the center of the vast Atlantic at one point passing 1,000 miles closer to Africa than to North America and within 700 miles of the Cape Verde Islands. The bird with the longest flight flew nonstop for 145 hours (six days), covering a distance of 7,000 kilometers (4,355 miles).

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