Monday, December 26, 2005

Mother of the Year: Lydia, the Bird

Once upon a time, there was a frigate named Lydia that lived on Christmas Island with her baby. One day, there was no food for the baby, so Lydia went to find some. Leaving her baby with her partner, Lydia set flight on a record breaking journey and wouldn't return for another 26 days.
Frigates are an endangered species of birds that breed only on Christmas Island, located in the Indian Ocean somewhere between Australia & Jakarta. In the past 20 years their population has decreased by 10%. The birds are black and white scavengers with pink beaks, a forked tail & wingspans up to 8 feet. Adult males are all black and during mating season, their throat pouch turns a radiant red.
Lydia took flight from Christmas Island on Oct. 18, 2005. After flying over the sea for 8 days, she circled back, flew over Christmas Island then between Java & Sumatra Islands. She then journeyed over Belitung, Bangia and Borneo Islands before flying across Java on her way home. Although she's a seabird, she also flew over volcanos. She returned home on Nov. 14, at which time she most likely regurgitated a meal for the baby. According to scientists, she travelled a record-breaking 2,485 non-stop miles.
Lydia is one of the first frigates fitted with a GPS device. The device measures about 2.5 inches long by 1 inch wide, with an eight inch antenna attached by a harness. Tracking the birds gives scientists much needed data on their flight paths & feeding patterns.

According to David James, this recent flight has scientists puzzled about a couple of things:
Does this mean Christmas Island's fish resources have become inadequate for frigates?
Could her long flight be an indicator as to why the frigate population is declining?

Previously frigates had been known to travel only a few hundred miles from their nest. While this wasn't the longest flight for a bird; it was the longest flight for a frigate. Birdlife International claims a gray-headed albatross once flew for 46 days.

Technorati tags: frigate, christmas island, australia, jakarta, java, sumatra, belitung, bangia, borneo, gps, david james, birdlife international, albatross

posted by jane at 10:31 AM