Sun compass in animals internal clock to determine their heading, and that they had learnt the actual direction down to the sea on their particular beach. Lockley's experiments with Manx shearwaters ("Puffinus puffinus") showed that when released "under a clear sky" far from their nests (in Skokholm), the seabirds first oriented themselves and then "flew off in a direct line for Skokholm", making the journey rapidly. For example, one of the birds, released at Boston airport, arrived in Skokholm 12½ days later; Lockley calculated that if the birds flew for 12 hours per day, they must have travelled at 20 miles per hour, their
Flesh-footed shearwater Flesh-footed shearwater The flesh-footed shearwater ("Ardenna carneipes"; formerly "Puffinus carneipes") is a medium-sized shearwater. Its plumage is black. It has pale pinkish feet, and a pale bill with a distinct black tip. Together with the equally light-billed pink-footed shearwater, it forms the "Hemipuffinus" group, a superspecies which may or may not have an Atlantic relative in the great shearwater. These are large shearwaters which are among those that have been separated in the genus "Ardenna". It breeds in colonies, and has two main breeding areas: one in the southwest Pacific Ocean includes Lord Howe Island (16,900 pairs ), South Australia