The latest trivia question from our WINGS e-newsletter:

The three most exacting tasks in the life of a migratory bird are breeding, molting, and migration. Because each of these activities takes so much energy, migratory birds typically undertake only one at a time. Name one species that engages fully in all three activities simultaneously.

Common Murres–here photographed in Alaska by Brian Sullivan with Horned Puffins and Thick-billed Murres–lead what BNA Online delicately describes as “an energetically costly lifestyle.” With their dependent chicks still in tow, adult males begin their migration by swimming to traditional areas to molt, thus migrating, molting, and breeding all at once.

Watch for a new trivia question in our next newsletter!