Search results
The Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea) is a tern in the family Laridae. This bird has a circumpolar breeding distribution covering the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of Europe (as far south as Brittany ), Asia, and North America (as far south as Massachusetts ).
A small, slender gray-and-white bird with angular wings, the Arctic Tern is well known for its long yearly migration. It travels from its Arctic breeding grounds to Antarctica where it enjoys the Antarctic summer, covering around 25,000 miles.
Arctic terns are ground-nesting birds, well adapted to treeless areas in the Arctic, where they fiercely protect their nests. Like many polar animals, their short legs help them conserve heat. All of these birds are born in the Arctic, but by the time winter threatens, they embark on an unfathomable migration to the most Southerly continent.
Famous for their record-setting migration—the longest of any animal in the world—Arctic terns are projected to lose 20 to 50 percent of their habitat due to climate change. Photograph by Joel...
Arctic Terns are slender terns with long, angular wings and pointed wingtips. They have a small round head with a steep forehead and extremely short legs. Breeding adults have a deeply forked tail.
Elegant seabird with extremely long wings and forked tail. Adults are pale gray with white cheek, black cap, and red bill and legs. Very similar to Common Tern; note shorter bill, shorter legs, gray belly, and paler gray wingtips with very limited dark tips.
Arctic tern, (Sterna paradisaea), tern species that makes the longest annual migration of any bird. It breeds in the southerly reaches of the Arctic and winters in the Antarctic, making its migration a round-trip of 60,000 to 82,000 km (roughly 37,000 to 51,000 miles).
The arctic tern is a slender bird with narrow wings and short legs. This small but mighty flyer is well known for its long-distance migration, traveling each year from one end of the world to the other and back.
Famous as a long-distance champion: some Arctic Terns may migrate farther than any other birds, going from the high Arctic to the Antarctic. Breeds on coasts and tundra from New England, Washington, and Britain north to the northernmost limits of land, and spends the rest of the year at sea.
Breeding at high latitudes in the Arctic and then travelling south in time for another summer in the Antarctic, some Arctic Terns experience more daylight than any other species. Feeding and nest defence, and a potential lifespan of three decades, add greatly to their extraordinary air miles.
