Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea)

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A Field Guide to Eastern Birds. by Roger Tory Peterson.

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Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea)

Identification: Length from tip of bill to tip of tail 14 to 16 inches.

Adult Summer Plumage: Upper half of head and back of neck black. Lower half of face white. Bill entirely bright red without a black tip. Breast and undersides white. Wings gray with the apical third not deeply suffused with dark gray. Underside of wing white, with only the rear-apical margin suffused with black. Tail y-shaped with forks reaching the apex of the wings. Legs red, short and stubby for a tern.

Adult Winter Plumage: Similar to the summer plumage, but crown of head white, not black. A dull black band stretching from the eye to the back of the head.

Immature: Similar to the adult winter plumage.

Similar Species:  The Arctic Tern is easily confused with the Common Tern. The Bill of the Common Tern is red, but the tip is black. The underside of the Arctic Tern is dull gray, not white. The tail feathers of the Arctic Tern are longer than those of the Common Tern and usually equal or exceed the wing tips when the bird is standing. In contrast the tail feathers are slightly shorter than the tips of the wing feathers. The feet of the Common Tern are normal in length and not short and stubby. Arctic Terns are rarely, if ever, seen outside of their breeding grounds, migrating over open ocean to Europe and Africa. Forster's Tern is another similar species. However the upper primary feathers (the large feathers on the trailing edge of the outer half of the wing) are strongly accented with white and are not all gray as in the Arctic Tern. The apex of the bill of the Forster's Tern is tip with black and is not solid red.

Breeding Range (see map below): The Arctic Tern breeds in the arctic and northern boreal regions of North America and Eurasia. The breeding range extends as far south as Nova Scotia in the east and British Columbia in the west.

Overwintering Range:  This species overwinters in the Antarctic Ocean of the Southern Hemisphere.

Habitat: The Arctic Tern breeds primarily on ocean beaches and coastal islands in the far north, but is also found on the tundra and northern lakes. During the winter this species is primarily a oceanic bird.

Food: Primarily marine animals such as small fish, shrimp, and squid.

Behavior: The Arctic Tern performs remarkable migrations moving from its breeding grounds in arctic North America and Eurasia southward to the oceans off of Antarctica. This species is primarily oceanic outside of its breeding grounds and is rarely seen during migration and the winter. The voice is a nasal kee-ar.

Reproduction:  The clutch consists of 2 brown-spotted olive-tan eggs. The eggs are laid in a ground depression usually lined with grass or pieces of mollusk shells. The species nests in large colonies, usually on islands or sand spits.