Arctic Tern

Sterna paradisaea

Order CHARADRIIFORMES - Family LARIDAE - Subfamily Sterninae

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

A small, slender white bird, the Arctic Tern is well known for its long yearly migration. Its travel from its Arctic breeding grounds to its wintering grounds off of Antarctica may cover perhaps 40,000 km (25,000 mi), and is the farthest yearly journey of any bird.

Cool Facts

• When molting its wing feathers during the winter, the Arctic Tern rarely flies, instead speading much of its time resting on small blocks of ice at the edge of the pack ice. Its molt happens so quickly that some individuals are nearly flightless for a while.
• The Arctic Tern can live to be at least 34 years old. It usually does not begin to breed until it is three or four years old.

• Most Arctic Terns return to the area where they were hatched, often to the same colony. One individual, however, was banded as a chick in northwestern Russia and found two years later in eastern Greenland.

• Downy Arctic Tern hatchlings come in two colors: gray or brown. Chicks within the same brood may be of different colors.

Description

• Size: 28-39 cm (11-15 in)
• Wingspan: 65-75 cm (26-30 in)
• Weight: 90-120 g (3.18-4.24 ounces)

• Medium-sized tern.
• White with black cap.
• Tail long and deeply forked.
• Wings white with some dark at tips.

Breeding (Alternate) Plumage: Cap solid black. Back light gray. Underparts pale gray, contrasting with white cheek. Legs red. Bill all red. Outer wing feathers with dark line on outer edge. Outer edge of tail feathers dark gray. Rump white, contrasting with gray back. Eyes dark brown.
Nonbreeding (Basic) Plumage: Forehead white. Back of head blackish. Crown streaked with black. Underparts white. Bill all black. Dusky shoulder. Legs dark brownish red to black.

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike.

Immature

Juvenile with brown or grayish bars across back. Immature resembles winter adult.

Similar Species

• Common Tern very similar, but has longer legs, more black in wings, lighter gray underparts, orange-red bill usually with a black tip, and shorter tail.
• Forster's Tern has longer, brighter orange legs, more orange bill with extensive black tip, whiter wings and belly, and black restricted to small mask around eye and ear in winter.
• Roseate Tern much paler, with longer legs, long white tail streamers, and usually an all-dark bill.

Sound

Calls a short "kip" and a harsh "kee-errr."

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Breeds across Alaska and northern Canada, southward to northern British Columbia, Hudson Bay, and along Atlantic Coast to Massachusetts. Also in Greenland, Iceland, and northern Eurasia.

Winter Range

Winters on pack ice off of Antarctica.

Habitat

Breeds in open tundra, boreal forest, or on rocky islands and beaches. Migrates far off shore. Winters on edge of pack ice.

Food

Small fish, crustaceans, and insects.

Behavior

Foraging

Plunges into water from flight; may hover briefly before plunging. Occasionally catches flying insects.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Scrape in gravel or grass, or platform of vegetation or debris. Placed on ground in open.

Egg Description

Olive to buff, marked with numerous small spots and blotches of dark brown, often concentrated around the larger end.

Clutch Size

Usually 2 eggs. Range: 1-3.

Condition at Hatching

Downy, eyes open, able to walk but stays in nest.

Conservation Status

Data on populations is limited, with no estimates available for most of its breeding range. Hunting for millinery trade caused declines of Atlantic populations in late 19th century. Southernmost populations declining and listed as of special concern.

Other Names

Sterne arctique (French)
Charrán ártico, Gaviotín del Artico (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Hatch, J. J. 2002. Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea). In The Birds of North America, No. 707 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.