Arctic Tern

1/400s at f8.0, ISO:640, Canon Mark III 1Ds w/800mm


The Arctic Tern 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. The species is strongly migratory, seeing two summers each year as it migrates from its northern breeding grounds along a winding route to the oceans around Antarctica and back, a round trip of about 70,900 km (c. 44,300 miles) each year. This is by far the longest regular migration by any known animal. 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 long-lived birds, with many reaching thirty years of age. They eat mainly fish and small marine invertebrates.
Churchill, Manitoba
 
06/20/2010