Medium. Long forked tail. Tail streamers project beyond wings when at rest. Sexes alike.
Adults: Breeding: Cap, black. Eye, dark brown. Back, most of wings, light grey. Outer primaries white with dark grey along outer and inner web of outermost primary. Secondaries lack band on trailing edge below. Rump, most of tail, white, the outer tail feather having a dark grey outerweb. Underparts, white, but greyish on breast and belly. Bill, blood-red. Legs, red. Non-breeding: Similar to breeding plumage but forehead is white and forecrown is streaked with white. Underparts, white. Tail is shorter.
Immatures: 1st winter: Similar to non-breeding adult. Faint black shoulder. Secondaries, white. Outer primaries dark grey. Rump, tail, white. Tail shorter.
Angola, Antarctica (NB), Argentina, Australia, Austria (P), Belgium (B), Benin, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil, British Indian Ocean Territory, Cameroon, Canada (B) (P), Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Congo, Côte dIvoire, Cuba, Denmark (B) (P), Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia (B), Falkland Islands (Malvinas), Faroe Islands (B), Finland (B) (P), France (B) (NB) (P), Gabon, Gambia, Germany (B) (P), Ghana, Greece, Greenland (B), Guinea, Guinea-bissau, Iceland (B), Ireland (B) (P), Japan, Latvia (B), Liberia, Lithuania (B), Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Namibia, Netherlands (B), New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway (B), Paraguay, Peru, Poland (B) (P), Portugal, Puerto Rico, Russia (Asian) (B), Russia (Central Asian) (B), Russia (European) (B), Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Spain (B), St Pierre and Miquelon (B) (P), Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands (B), Sweden (B) (P), Togo, United Kingdom (B), USA (B).
Vagrant to Algeria, Belarus, Bulgaria, Central African Republic, Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Costa Rica, Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska), Cyprus, Czech Republic, Egypt, French Southern Territories, Gibraltar, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Lesotho, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Luxembourg, Marshall Islands, Montenegro, Mozambique, Oman, Senegal, Serbia, Slovakia (Slovak Republic), St Helena, Sudan, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Virgin Islands (U.S.).
Iceland, Britain and Netherlands through Scandinavia, and across Asia, almost exclusively north of Arctic Circle, to Bering Strait, with isolated breeding sites in Kamchatka, and northernmost breeding area in Franz Josef Land; Aleutians and northern Alaska across to north-western and north-eastern Greenland, and south to British Columbia and New York, with isolated colony in north-western Washington. Migrates to Antarctica, where spends much of northern winter in pack ice zone.
Food
Carnivorous. Mainly fish, crustaceans and insects. Also takes worms, molluscs and plant material.
Voice
A rising, two-syllable, 'kee-yahr'. A higher, whistled 'kee-kee'. Shrill, nasal, grating notes and a short, sharp alarm call. Very noisy at breeding colonies.
Arctic Tern (Sterna) [XC584617]
by Peter Stronach from Ouessant, Finist\u00e8re, Bretagne, France (flight call, nocturnal flight call)
Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea) [XC740912]
by Irish Wildlife Sounds from Carne, Wexford, County Wexford, Ireland (flight call)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Does not breed in Australia. June - July in northern Europe, Asia and Africa.
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Nest
A scrape in sand or shingle, unlined. In colonies.
Eggs (Guide)
2 - 3; stone to pale blue, blotched dark brown; ellipsoidal; about 40 x 30 mm. Incubation: about 22 days; by both sexes. Usually more boldly marked than that of Common Tern (Sterna hirundo).
Subspecies
No subspecies.
Similar Species
Common Tern (Sterna hirundo)
Non-breeding with non-breeding. Bill is longer. Legs are much longer. Underwing primaries are darker. Has more prominent dark edges to the primary flight feathers. Outer tail feathers are black. Tail streamers do not extend beyond wings at rest.
Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii)
Similar size. Breeding with breeding and non-breeding with non-breeding. Has longer, bill, legs and tail. Lacks dark trailing edge to primaries and lacks dark edge to outer tail-streamers.
Antarctic Tern (Sterna vittata)
Larger. Bill is longer, heavier. Legs, longer. Broader, less tapered wings. Tail not as deeply forked. Underparts greyer and has greyer-trailing edge to outer primaries.
, longer bill and lacks dark edges to the outer tail feathers.
Compare Images
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
BirdLife International Species Factsheet