Arctic Tern
Sterna paradisaea
Morphology 3
Arctic terns are 36-43cm/14-17in long with a wingspread of 74-84cm/29-33in. They are white with black caps and gray mantles, and a deeply-forked tail. In spring and summer, the entire bill is blood-red. Their legs are so short that the birds appear to be crouched when standing.
Description 4
The Arctic tern is a long-distance migrant, making a staggering annual round-trip from its Arctic or northern temperate breeding range to the Antarctic where it spends winter (3). They are very similar in appearance to the common tern (Sterna hirundo), so much so that birdwatchers call unidentified terns 'commic terns', an amalgamation of the two common names (6). Arctic terns are slightly smaller than common terns, and have a shorter bill and longer tail (2). The rump is white, the underparts are darker and the wing lacks the dark wedge on the outer edge, which is a key identifying feature of common terns (6) . During summer, the bill becomes bright red and lacks the black tip seen in common terns (2). Long tail streamers also develop in summer (2). A 'kee-arr' alarm call and a piping 'pi-pi-pi-pi-pi' call are produced (2) (6).
"cool facts" 5
Arctic terns are the champion of all migrating birds. They migrate the furthest south to overwinter, as far as the South Pole ice. In the spring, they return to their breeding grounds in the North Sea area or further northwards. In total, they make an annual trip of around 35,000 kilometers per year! A young Arctic tern supplied with a transmitter in Groningen in the summer of 2011 flew at least 90,000 kilometers in 273 days. If you realize that Arctic terns can reach an age of 30 years and make this trip every year, than this tern possibly flies more than 2.7 million km in its entire life. That is equivalent to approximately 3 return trips to the moon!
Sources and Credits
- (c) Blake Matheson, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.flickr.com/photos/34328261@N02/3218359613
- (c) Tony Smith, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://www.flickr.com/photos/pc_plod/14004714208/
- Adapted by Yukon Conservation Data Centre from a work by (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31424448
- Adapted by Yukon Conservation Data Centre from a work by (c) Wildscreen, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/6684371
- Adapted by Yukon Conservation Data Centre from a work by (c) Copyright Ecomare, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/26217019
More Info
Range Map
iNaturalist.ca Map
| Color | grey, red, white |
|---|---|
| Animal | Bird |
| Bird | tern |
