Moonbird

When I hadn’t decided yet a title for this photo, by chance I did read a story about a bird named Moonbird, and then I decided this title.

The real Moonbird is a male rufa red knot (Calidris canutus rufa), formally known as B95. In 1995 he was banded (attachment of a small tag to the leg to enable individual identification and keep track of the migrations and life history) in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina.

It is not known how long red knots typically live, but this one would be now 32 or 33 years old, what is an amazing record for a bird (although I must say that I haven’t found recent news confirming if he is alive or not nowadays). These red knots do annual migration between Tierra del Fuego and Canadian Arctic. So this little bird has flown more than the distance to the Moon over his lifetime, that’s why the nickname.

Moonbird is unaware, but he is an icon. He has an article in Wikipedia, a statue in Mispillion Harbor (Delaware Bay), and a book: Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95, written by the conservationist and writer Phillip Hoose.

Be happy, Moonbird! 🙂