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The Arctic tern is the clearest answer to which bird migrates the farthest over a year: one tracking study found an average annual journey of 70,900 km (about 44,100 miles) for birds from Greenland and Iceland. But “longest migration” depends on what is measured. A full annual circuit, a one-way seasonal journey and a single nonstop flight are different things, so the eight birds below are notable long-distance migrants—not a precise, apples-to-apples ranking.
The figures come from different populations and studies. Where a measurement is seasonal or belongs to one individual, it is labelled that way; those numbers should not be read as annual totals.
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How should you compare the longest bird migrations?
Start by checking what a distance represents. An annual circuit follows a bird’s movements across a year; a seasonal migration measures a trip in one direction between breeding and nonbreeding areas; and a nonstop-flight record covers one continuous flight. Those measurements answer related questions, but they are not interchangeable.
For example, a bird that flies 15,000 km on a spring migration has not necessarily travelled less in a year than one reported to cover 50,000 km annually. The first number may leave out the return journey and other movements, while the second describes a broader circuit. A spectacular nonstop flight is narrower still: it shows endurance over one leg, not the bird’s total yearly travel.
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Distances also depend on which birds were tracked, where they breed, which route they take and how a study calculates a path. Some figures are sample means; others are estimates for an individual. Treat the numbers as evidence of remarkable journeys, not as measurements made under one uniform contest.
Which eight birds are notable for long migrations?
The list brings together the strongest examples supported by the available tracking results and published summaries. The order is for readability, not a standardized ranking across unlike measurements.
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Arctic tern: an extraordinary annual circuit
The Arctic tern is the leading example for the longest documented annual migration in this group. Tracking birds from Greenland and Iceland produced an average annual distance of 70,900 km (about 44,100 miles), with a reported range of 59,500–81,600 km. The study followed their journeys between northern breeding areas and Antarctic waters. The PNAS tracking study explains why this species is often cited for the longest animal migration.
That average is not a fixed distance for every Arctic tern. A separate estimate for one tagged bird nesting on England’s Farne Islands put its journey at 96,000 km (about 59,650 miles), as reported by BirdLife International. It is an individual estimate, not a typical species-wide annual distance. Routes vary by population, and a different study of Baltic Arctic terns reported a 50,000 km annual circuit.
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Sooty shearwater: a vast Pacific journey
Tracking has documented an exceptionally long annual migration for the sooty shearwater. A Pacific study reported 64,000 km, with a spread of plus or minus 9,779 km; the figure excludes the breeding period. BirdLife International summarizes the result from Shaffer and colleagues’ study.
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Because the reported distance leaves out the breeding period, it should not be treated as a complete measure of every kilometre travelled over an entire year. Even with that qualification, it is a striking annual migration figure and a useful comparison with the Arctic tern’s annual circuit. The uncertainty around the reported value also cautions against treating the two species’ numbers as exact, directly comparable ranks.
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Bar-tailed godwit: the nonstop-flight standout
The bar-tailed godwit is famous for a different kind of distance record: an exceptionally long nonstop flight. In 2022, a juvenile known as B6 flew 8,425 miles (about 13,560 km) from Alaska to Tasmania in 11 days, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. BirdLife International also describes a nonstop-flight record exceeding 13,000 km.
Neither figure is a full annual migration distance. It measures a single flight, so it belongs in a separate category from the annual Arctic tern and sooty shearwater figures. The 2024 shorebird tracking study provides another useful, but different, measure: a New Zealand sample of 18 tracks averaged 16,210 ± 550 km for spring migration. That seasonal result should not be added to the flight record or mistaken for an annual circuit.
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Curlew sandpiper: the longest spring mean in a five-species comparison
A 2024 PNAS study reported a mean spring migration of 15,775 km, with a standard deviation of 905 km, for tracked curlew sandpipers. This was a seasonal distance, defined by the study as travel from a major nonbreeding site to a breeding site—not a full-year total.
The result is particularly useful because it sits alongside four other shorebird species measured in the same study. That shared framework makes the five figures more informative as a comparison than a list assembled from unrelated annual, seasonal and record-flight measurements. It still does not turn a spring journey into an annual ranking.
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Red-necked stint: another long seasonal shorebird journey
The same PNAS study reported that 16 tracked red-necked stints averaged 14,707 km in spring migration, with a standard deviation of 1,019 km. The number describes one seasonal leg between the birds’ major nonbreeding and breeding sites.
That shared measurement makes the red-necked stint a useful comparison with the curlew sandpiper, red knot and great knot below. It does not tell you how far an individual bird travelled over the full year, and the mean is not a promised distance for every bird in the sample.
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Red knot: a substantial spring migration
For red knots, the 2024 study reported a mean spring distance of 12,504 km, with a standard deviation of 2,561 km, from a 2013 sample of six birds. As with the other shorebird results here, the measurement runs from a major nonbreeding site to a breeding site.
The relatively small sample and the spread around the mean are worth keeping in view when comparing numbers. The figure shows the scale of the tracked birds’ seasonal journey; it is not a universal route length for red knots or a complete annual circuit.
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Great knot: a long spring trip measured on the same basis
Eight tracked great knots in a 2013 sample averaged 9,920 km in spring migration, with a standard deviation of 465 km. That is the shortest mean among the five species in this particular comparison, but it is still a major one-way seasonal journey.
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Because the study used the same general definition for these five shorebirds, readers can compare their spring means more meaningfully than they can compare those figures with the Arctic tern’s annual total. The great knot’s 9,920 km is not a measure of the whole year’s travel.
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Bobolink: a long route between the Canadian prairies and Argentina
Bobolinks make a migration of more than 9,600 km between Canadian prairie breeding grounds and the Argentine pampas, according to BirdLife International. This gives the species a notable place among long-distance migrants, while the source does not present the figure in the same study framework as the five shorebird spring means above.
The route description identifies the broad regions connected by the migration. It should not be used as a standardized annual-circuit figure or ranked directly against a nonstop flight record. Its value here is as an example of the substantial distances a migratory songbird can cover between breeding and nonbreeding areas.
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What do the distance figures actually tell you?
The clearest like-for-like comparison in this set is the group of five shorebirds in the 2024 PNAS study: bar-tailed godwit, curlew sandpiper, red-necked stint, red knot and great knot. The researchers define the listed migration distance as travel from the major nonbreeding site to the breeding site. Each number is therefore a spring, one-way seasonal distance. The study gives species-specific sample sizes and standard deviations, so the means have context rather than appearing as exact distances every bird must fly.
The other headline figures answer different questions. The Arctic tern and sooty shearwater numbers describe annual migration measures, though the shearwater figure excludes the breeding period. The godwit’s 8,425-mile record describes one nonstop flight. The Bobolink figure describes a route between broad regions. Putting all of these values in a single descending table would suggest a precision the underlying evidence does not support.
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Even annual distances can depend on how a route is reconstructed. The 2010 Arctic tern study notes that geolocation error and the step length chosen to calculate a path affect distance estimates. A tracked route is an estimate of travel, not a perfectly exact line measured without uncertainty. Different studies may also track different populations over different periods.
How we selected these eight birds
These species were included because the supplied studies and summaries report unusually long migrations, long seasonal distances or a notable nonstop-flight record. Preference was given to figures with a named source and a clear description of what was measured. Where a cited study or summary provided a sample size, mean, range, spread or route, those details are included.
This is not a definitive rank order of the eight species. The Arctic tern leads the annual-distance discussion; the godwit stands out for a single nonstop flight; and the five shorebirds offer a common-method comparison of spring migration. Keeping those categories separate is more accurate than forcing unlike measurements into one leaderboard.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do published Arctic tern migration distances vary so much?
A 2019 study reported a 50,000 km annual circuit for Baltic Arctic terns, based on 12 annual journeys by eight individuals. That population-specific result differs from the Greenland-and-Iceland tracking study, illustrating why a single distance should not be assumed to describe every population.
What does the plus-or-minus number mean in a migration study?
In the shorebird study, the value after ± is the standard deviation: it describes how much tracked distances varied around the reported mean in that sample. It is not a range guaranteed to contain every bird’s journey.
Can tracking calculate a bird’s exact route?
No route estimate is perfectly exact. The Arctic tern study notes that geolocation error and the chosen step length used to calculate a path can affect the resulting distance.
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No. A spring one-way distance, an annual migration measure and a single nonstop flight are different measurements, so a single ordering would be misleading. The five shorebird spring means are the closest thing here to a direct comparison because they come from one study using a common definition.
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