[DoctorBulldog]

Uhm... Just thinking off the top of my head, here: The Earth has a circumference of almost 25,000 miles. A trip from the north pole to the south pole would be almost 12,500 miles. Same for a return trip. That would put their round-trip migration at about 25,000 miles.

So, what am I missing? How can this bird fly 50,000 miles if it is just going from the northern arctic to the southern and then back? Did the Earth suddenly expand?

The only thing I can figure is that these birds are following a cork-screw path around the globe as they fly in a southerly direction. Obviously, they aren’t smart enough to just fly due south or due north in a straight line. Perhaps this is because they have never met their black feathered cousins and heard the phrase, “as a crow flies...”

Cheers

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Well,...they tracked them...and I think they jogged around for purposes of making feeding stops.

[Thrownatbirth]

A trip from the north pole to the south pole would be almost 12,500 miles.

There might be a pretty good arc on that route.

[BushMeister]

PNAS