The news that an Arctic tern has been rediscovered on the Farne Islands, 30 years after it was ringed as a chick, has sent ornithologists rushing to check the record books. The bird, known as 'CE60645' after the ring placed on its leg in spring 1980 by National Trust warden John Walton, is indeed the oldest Arctic tern ever found in Britain.
But it still has a long way to go before it catches up with Britain's oldest known wild birds: a Manx shearwater on Bardsey Island in Wales, and a fulmar on Orkney, both of whom reached the age of at least 50, and may still be out there somewhere.
Their long lives are in sharp contrast to the fate of our nation's favourite bird, the robin. In the 1930s, scientist David Lack discovered that very few robins live more than a year or two – thus puncturing the cherished belief that the same robin returns to our garden year after year. Most garden birds lead the same brief lives – rarely surviving longer than three or four years at most.
Apart from their great age, the Arctic tern, Manx shearwater and fulmar have another thing in common: they are all seabirds, which collectively hold most of the avian longevity records. This may seem surprising, as we often think of the high seas as a dangerous place. But while a marine existence might not suit us, seabirds have evolved a lifestyle perfectly suited to wandering the world's oceans.
Indeed, it is when seabirds come to land to breed each spring and summer that they are in most danger. To avoid predators such as rats and foxes they nest in vast colonies on steep cliffs and offshore islands. In the past, this made them vulnerable to another mammalian predator: us. For much of Britain's history, coastal communities depended on seabirds for food, fuel and feathers – a lifestyle that continued well into the 20th century, with the "bird people" of St Kilda.
By now, in early autumn, the oldest Arctic tern will have departed on its epic journey south to Antarctica – a round trip of more than 40,000 miles. So in its 30-year lifetime it has already comfortably clocked up more than one million miles – a world record not just for a bird, but for any living creature.