These birds fly up to 2,000 kilometres to find a mate

The results of the study are published in the journal Conservation Genetics.

The study was conducted by scientists from the University of the Sunshine Coast in Australia. They studied a colony of red-tailed phaetons on Lady Elliot Island, located on the southern edge of the Great Barrier Reef.

This is one of the smallest colonies of these seabirds in Australia, with only six to ten pairs nesting on the island.

Details

Because of the small numbers, scientists speculated that the birds might suffer from inbreeding. However, genetic analyses revealed an unexpected picture.

It turned out that the genetic diversity of birds on this island is as high as in much larger colonies.

According to the researchers, the reason is that the birds sometimes make very long journeys.

Some of them can fly thousands of kilometres to find a mate in another colony and then return to the island to breed.

Scientists estimate that the distance of such journeys can reach about 2,000 kilometres.

Sometimes the opposite also happens - birds from large colonies fly to a small island to pair up and raise chicks.

Why it's important

Such movements help birds maintain genetic diversity, even if the colony is very small and isolated.

This is especially important for the protection of rare species.

One subspecies of red-tailed phaeton that lives in the Indian Ocean is considered vulnerable.

The researchers said the new findings show that the birds are able to communicate between colonies on their own, increasing their chances of survival.

Background

The colony on Lady Elliot Island only emerged in the 1980s, after the island began revegetating vegetation destroyed by past guano mining.

Scientists believe that the restoration of the natural environment helped the birds return to the island and establish a new colony.

Source

Dominique A. Potvin et al., Spatial genetic structure and connectivity in established colonies of red-tailed tropicbirds across a tropical longitudinal axis, Conservation Genetics (2026)