KEY POINTS:
American scientists are scratching their heads after an electronic transponder tag placed in a salmon at a hatchery in Washington state ended up in the stomach of a muttonbird in New Zealand 12,390km away.
But the find is no great surprise for seabird biologists in New Zealand.
Last year they used their own electronic tags to track the tiny muttonbirds - known as titi by the Maori - on their migration to feeding grounds in the northern Pacific, and home again.
The birds breed in New Zealand, then make a 64,000km annual migration to feeding grounds in the northern hemisphere, including the US, and back again.
The electronic tag was placed in a juvenile steelhead salmon at the Ringold Hatchery in Franklin County in September 2004 and released into the Columbia River in April 2005.
The salmon was then apparently eaten by a muttonbird feeding up for the flight to New Zealand.
The tag then remained in the bird's stomach for over 16 months until it was regurgitated to feed young chicks back in New Zealand.
- NZPA
