Arctic Tern

Sterna paradisaeaOrder: CHARADRIIFORMESFamily: Skuas, Gulls, Terns, Skimmers (Laridae)

Arctic Tern Juvenile - The juvenile Arctic Tern is mottled above and has a partial black cap with a white forehead.

Arctic Tern - The adult Arctic Tern has gray upperparts, with a black cap, a white rump and throat and pale gray underparts. The bill, feet and legs are dark red.

Bird database and its related content, illustrations and media is Copyright © 2002 - 2007 Whatbird.com
All rights reserved. No part of this web site may be reproduced without written permission from Mitch Waite Group.
Privacy Policy.

Percevia® Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Arctic Tern

Arctic Tern: Medium, slim tern with gray upperparts, black cap, white rump and throat, and pale gray underparts. Tail is deeply forked and white with dark edges on outer feathers. Bill is dark red, rarely tipped with black. Legs and feet are red. Bouyant graceful flight with steady wing beats.

● Song: "tr-tee-ar"

● Foraging & Feeding: Arctic Tern: Diet consists mainly of small fish and invertebrates such as insects, shrimp, and krill; forages by swooping down and catching prey at the water surface.

● Breeding & nesting: Arctic Tern: One to three buff to pale olive eggs with black and brown blotches are laid on bare rocks, often lined with nothing more than a few pebbles. Egg color and markings are excellent camouflage among rocks. Both parents incubate eggs for about 24 days.

● Similar species: Arctic Tern: Common Tern has long red bill tipped with black, longer legs, and shorter tail.

Flight Pattern

Hovers, dips for prey., Buoyant graceful flight with nearly constant wing beats.

● Range & Habitat: Arctic Tern: Breeds on arctic tundra from Aleutians, northern Alaska and across northern Canada and south to northern British Columbia, northern Manitoba, Quebec, and Massachusetts. Spends winters in Antarctica. Makes the furthest migration of all birds: travel up to 22,000 miles on each round trip. Arctic Terns see more daylight than any other living creature since they are in both Southern and Northern Hemispheres during periods of longest days. Found along seashores, on rocky or grass-covered coasts and islands, and on tundra in summer.

^BreedingMonogamous, Colonial, Pairs

^PopulationCommon to fairly common

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight3.8 Ounces

Field Guide to Birds of North America

Arctic Tern

Arctic Tern

Flight Pattern