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Arctic Tern

The Arctic tern holds the record for the longest migration of any animal on Earth — sometimes traveling over 80,000 kilometers (nearly 50,000 miles) each year from the Arctic to the Antarctic and back again! These globe-trotting birds see more daylight than any other species as they fly across the planet to chase a second summer.

 

Sleek and graceful, the Arctic tern has a black cap, gray-and-white body, long wings, and a deeply forked tail that gives it an elegant silhouette in flight. Its body measures about 36–43 centimeters (14–17 inches) long with a wingspan of up to 84 centimeters (33 inches). These wings carry them huge distances, flying from northern breeding grounds to southern wintering grounds. 

Arctic terns often nest in huge colonies on Arctic and sub-Arctic coasts. Males will court a female by chasing her through the air and calling at her, then offering her the gift of a small fish. Once a male and female pair together, they will both provide parental care to their chicks and often stay together for life. These agile fliers feed on small fish and crustaceans which they snatch from the water with steep, sudden dives.

 

 

These epic travelers are threatened by a force they can’t control: climate change. Arctic terns are projected to lose 20-50% of their habitat due to changing temperatures. Warming oceans are also reducing populations of key prey species, such as sandeels, leading to food shortages that are linked to breeding failures in Arctic terns. Despite these challenges, however, Arctic terns are not currently threatened.

 

 

Oceana’s science-driven campaigns are working to mitigate drivers of climate change like stopping the expansion of offshore drilling while helping the oceans and the people and creatures that depend on them adapt by stopping overfishing and protecting habitat. Learn more about our campaigns and how you can get involved.

 

 

  • Animal Diversity Web 
  • Egevang, C, Stenhouse, IJ, Phillips, RA, et al. (2010) Tracking of Arctic terns Sterna paradisaea reveals longest animal migration. PNAS 107: 2078-2081. Pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.0909493107 
  • IUCN Red List 
  • Robinson, JA, Hamer, KC, and Chivers, LS. (2001) Contrasting Brood Sizes in Common and Arctic Terns: The Roles of Food Provisioning Rates and Parental Brooding. The Condor: Ornithological Applications 103: 108-117. https://doi.org/10.1093/condor/103.1.108 

 

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