Arctic Tern

Arctic Tern Facts

• The short yet informative title of Arctic Tern serves as the most frequently employed common name for this beautiful winged wonder. The amazing bird does have at least one other general title, though. That’s the occasionally locally used term of sea swallow.
• Within the scientific community, however, it’s possibly better known by its technical designation. Although appealing, that’s slightly more difficult for the layperson to pronounce. That’s because it holds the appellation of Sterna paradisaea.
• The winged wonder received that epithet due to the efforts of Erik Ludvigsen Pontoppidan. Intriguingly, the Danish author and Lutheran bishop recorded the first recognition of it as a separate and distinct species. He achieved that feat in 1763.
• This marvel of the winged world earns merit for a multitude of reasons, to be certain. Chief among them, though, ranks its migratory habits. It undertakes the longest known migrations of any animal on earth. These average 30,300 mi (48,700 km) per year!
• Fortunately, the magnificent Arctic Tern appears to be maintaining both a stable and sufficient population base. That pleasant state also seems to hold true throughout its entire range. The IUCN therefore presently shows it as Least Concern on its Red List.
• The surprising animal nevertheless still faces several potential threats to its continued existence, at least. Like all forms of life on earth today, most of these stem from the actions of man. They include the related perils of habitat loss and climate change.

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Arctic Tern Physical Description

The beautiful Arctic Tern quickly draws the eye of those fortunate enough to encounter the airborne marvel. It does not typically do so, however, due to its sheer size. That’s simply due to the fact that, in that regard, it only ranks as a small-to-medium variety of bird.

Yet, Nature cares nothing for such matters. Regardless of physical dimensions, it puts on a remarkable presence for the observer. It also does so without regard to gender, since, unlike many animals, it shows little or no evidence of the characteristic of sexual dimorphism.

Individuals of both sexes thus achieve the same general body measurements. This includes a length averaging approximately 11 – 15 in (28 – 39 cm). It also boasts a modest mean wingspan equaling roughly 26 – 30 in (65 – 75 cm). Exceptional examples occur, but rarely.

Nature also provided the smaller bird with a natural feature that many of its larger cousins lack. That’s in the nature of its tail. This appendage develops with a distinctive combination of being strongly forked, long and slender, and possessing elongated outer feathers.

The coloring of the lovely Arctic Tern additionally represents a point of interest among its many observers. That’s due to the fact that this trait is actually quite variable. During the breeding season, the animal presents a mostly white body with a light gray mantle and back.

The animal also has a black cap on their head that extends down to their eyes. Its wings show gray with a noticeable black trailing edge. The bill usually displays red with a black tip. Outside of breeding season, however, the plumage becomes significantly duller in coloring.

• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Chordata
• Class: Aves
• Order: Charadriiformes
• Family: Laridae
• Genus: Sterna
• Species: S. paradisaea

Arctic Tern Distribution, Habitat, and Ecology

The astonishing Arctic Tern, despite its name, inhabits an astounding swathe of the earth’s surface. The full extent of that zone of habitation, if fact, might surprise you. It’s broken up, though, due to the fact that it inhabits different regions in different seasons.

During the southern summer, the Northern Hemisphere’s winter, this winged wonder is distributed widely across the Southern Ocean. There, more precisely its range extends, from the Antarctic pack ice to the waters off the coasts of South America, Africa, and Australia.

But, during the Northern Hemisphere’s winter, it migrates to the Antarctic region, where it spends the southern summer. This incredibly extensive migration takes the avian from its breeding grounds in the Arctic all the way to the Southern Ocean around Antarctica.

During its breeding season, the intrepid creature displays a moderate degree of flexibility pertaining to its choice of habitat. It’s thus found in a reasonably wide range of ecosystems at this time. All of these, however, tend to be either in coastal or near-coastal regions.

This frequently includes such settings as coastlines, including rocky shores, sandy beaches, and even gravelly or grassy areas near the shore. It also often chooses small islands or even islets for nesting. It does so since these provide some protection from predators.

Yet, in some regions, the amazing product of evolution sometimes nests inland on tundra habitats found near freshwater lakes or ponds. In such settings, it most often prefers open areas with short vegetation where it can easily spot predators and access its nesting sites.

The fabulous Arctic Tern feeds as a pure carnivore. The vast majority of its diet consists of a variety of smaller fish species. It does, though, augment this with the occasional crustaceans, mollusks, and other small marine organisms. It hunts in a range of several ways.

In turn, it faces its own threats, including avian predators such as skuas, gulls, and jaegers, as well as mammalian predators like foxes and rats. Nest predation can be a significant challenge, leading it to prefer to nest in locations that provide some level of protection.

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