The Arctic tern holds the record for the longest migration of any animal—an annual round trip of up to 90,000 kilometers between the Arctic and Antarctic. A bird that lives in perpetual summer.
Gallery
Arctic tern in flight
© Unsplash
Nesting colony in Iceland
© Unsplash
Vocalizations
Alarm call
Iceland
Grade A
0:32
Contact call
Svalbard
Grade B
0:18
Recordings sourced from Xeno-canto. Quality grades: A (excellent) to E (poor).
Distribution & Habitat
Circumpolar breeding, Antarctic wintering
View on interactive map →CoastalArctic TundraOpen Ocean
Classification
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Laridae
- Season
- Spring–Summer (Arctic)
- Diet
- Fish, Crustaceans, Insects
Measurements
- Wingspan
- 76–85 cm
- Length
- 33–39 cm
- Weight
- 86–127 g
Data Sources
- eBird
- iNaturalist
- Xeno-canto