ComingsBirds.com/Birdgroups S-Z

To the Beauty of Birds

The Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea) is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae. This bird has a circumpolar breeding distribution covering the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of Europe, Asia, and North America (as far south as Brittany and Massachusetts). The species is strongly migratory, seeing two summers each year as it migrates along a convoluted route from its northern breeding grounds to the Antarctic coast. Recent studies have shown average annual roundtrip lengths of about 44,100 mi for birds nesting in Iceland and Greenland and 56,000 mi for birds nesting in the Netherlands. These are by far the longest migrations known in the animal kingdom. The Arctic tern flies as well as glides through the air, performing almost all of its tasks in the air. It nests once every one to three years (depending on its mating cycle); once it has finished nesting it takes to the sky for another long southern migration.

Arctic terns are medium-sized birds. They have a length of 11–15 inches and a wingspan of 26–30 inchs. They are mainly grey and white plumaged, with a red beak (as long as the head, straight, with pronounced gonys) and feet, white forehead, a black nape and crown (streaked white), and white cheeks. The grey mantle is 305 mm, and the scapulae are fringed brown, some tipped white. The upper wing is grey with a white leading edge, and the collar is completely white, as is the rump. The deeply forked tail is whitish, with grey outer webs. The hind crown to the ear-coverts is black.

Arctic terns are long-lived birds, with many reaching thirty years of age. They eat mainly fish and small marine invertebrates. The species is abundant, with an estimated one million individuals. While the trend in the number of individuals in the species as a whole is not known, exploitation in the past has reduced this bird's numbers in the southern reaches of its range.

The Arctic tern was known as sea swallow describing their slender shape as they swoop over the water.

Arctic terns usually migrate sufficiently far offshore that they are rarely seen from land outside the breeding season.

The bird in photo 0152 visited us 50 miles out on our Perpetua Pelagic trip out of Newport, OR. It is a common migrant over open seas, often far out, as this one was.

All the remaining photos were taken in Iceland.

Arctic Terns

Arctic Tern 0152

Arctic Tern 7678

Arctic Tern with food 38111