General
Arctic Tern: Medium-sized, graceful seabird with long, pointed wings, thin, dagger-like bill, and elongated outer tail feathers. Mostly light gray body, black cap, and wings with narrow, black strip on outer edge of flight feathers. Short, red legs and red bill. Sexes similar. Juveniles have white underparts, shorter tail, black bill, white front, dark bar on leading edge of wings, and scaled appearance to upperparts.
Range and Habitat
Arctic Tern: Summer breeder in northern England, Scotland, north Wales, Isle of Man and Ireland. Passes through central England on route to breeding grounds. Found in coastal areas and inland reservoirs. Spends winter months in Antarctica.
Breeding and Nesting
Arctic Tern: Pairs mate for life and have one clutch per year. Nesting is in colonies vigorously defended by males. Nests are a hollow in sand, gravel, or moss on a beach but a ways in from the shoreline and hidden in vegetation. Breeding is most successful when nests are close together.
Foraging and Feeding
Arctic Tern: Feeds mostly on fish, especially sand eels, which they catch by making short dives. Lack of sand eels, possibly due to over-fishing by humans, is a threat. Feeding is generally within 3 km of the breeding colony. Also eat crustaceans and insects.
Vocalisation
Arctic Tern: Call is a raspy "tr-tee-ar."
Similar Species
Arctic Tern: The Common Tern is very similar in plumage, but is slightly smaller, has a shorter bill, legs, and tail. Little Terns are smaller and have yellow bills and legs, rather than orange.