Stats

Lifespan

15-30 yrs

Size

Small

Diet

Carnivore

Activity

Diurnal

Social

Colony

Biome

Marine and Tundra

Range

Worldwide

Movement

Flight

Breeding

Egg-laying

Defense

Speed

Status

Uncommon

About

Arctic Terns are migratory birds that live in the Arctic and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia, and North America. They migrate along a convoluted route from their northern breeding grounds to the Antarctic coast for the southern summer and back again about six months later.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   egg

   A clutch of eggs is incubated in the nest, kept warm by a brooding parent until the chicks pip free.
2. 2.
   hatchling

   A naked or downy hatchling is fed in the nest by its parents.
3. 3.
   juvenile

   A feathered juvenile fledges from the nest and learns to fly and forage.
4. 4.
   adult

   Fully grown with adult plumage.

Learn more

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Charadriiformes

Family

Laridae

Genus

Sterna

Species

Sterna paradisaea