Scientists Impressed but Baffled by Prairie Chicken's 1,200 Mile Journey

A GPS-equipped prairie chicken has biologists baffled by its long-winded treks, logging nearly 1,200 miles since April 4.

First released near Kellerton, Iowa, the bird has been running in massive, multi-state circles, logging as many as 24 miles in a single day.

"We did expect a range of maybe 50 mile," Jen Vogel, a post-doctoral research associate at Iowa State University who monitored the chiecken known as Bird No. 112, told The Des Moines Register. "We really didn't expect this distance."

Scientists say they're not sure why the bird's summer plans included such an ambitious travel schedule, though one theory is that as a Nebraska native, the bird may be looking for home.

What's more, given that all nine other birds equipped with a GPS somehow fell off the research bandwagon -- one freed itself of the device and the other eight were all taken out by predators -- the scientists have nothing to compare Bird No. 112's behavior to.

The effort to track the nomadic bird is part of a larger strategy designed by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to reintroduce the animal that disappeared from the state by the 1950s due to overhunting and loss of habitat. The move isn't a new one: as early as the 1990s, scientists tried to kickstart an Iowa population with birds taken from Kansas. However, by 2000, only a handful were left. In 2012, wildlife officials decided to give it another try, translocating 43 birds. So far this year, just over 70 birds have been translocated, though this time from Nebraska.

As far as Bird No. 112 goes, however, things seem to be settling down.

"She seems to be ending her travels; her locations recently have all been in southwestern Union County (Iowa)," Vogel told The Kansas City Star, adding that whatever the animal is looking for, she "hopes she's found it."