BTO BirdFacts | Arctic Tern

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Page updated:16-January-2013

	Order: Charadriiformes	Family: Sternidae
	BTO Codes: AE, ARCTE	EURING No: 6160
	Number in Britain: 53 thousand pairs (Summer)
	Conservation Status:
	UK: AMBER
	European: Not a species of concern
	Global: (Details)
Links to: Images Videos Sound
Tips on Identification

Status in UK: (A) Migrant Breeder, Passage Visitor
Subspecies: Monotypic
.
Length: 34 cm	Wingspan: 80 cm	Weight: M/F: 110 g

Scientific name from:	Old English: stearn=a tern and L.: paradisus=paradise
World Distribution:	BREEDS: n Eurasia, n North America, WINTERS: sub Antarctic & Antarctic oceans

Habitat:	Seacoast, tundra, lakes, rivers, in winter pelagic
Diet:	Fish, crustaceans and insects
TitBit:	Famed for their long-distance migration (one ringed as a chick on the Farne Is in June 1982 turned up in Melbourne, Australia, 22 000km by sea, in October), most return to the same area, even the same colony, they were hatched to breed.

	Population Trend:	JNCC Seabird Monitoring Programme
	Distribution:	Atlas Maps

British Population Size:

Summer: 53 thousand pairs in 1998-02 Mitchell, P.I. et al. (2004) Seabird populations of Britain and Ireland Poyser, London

First Record: 1818

Latest Survey: Mitchell, P.I. et al. (2004) Seabird populations of Britain and Ireland Poyser, London

Conservation Status: AMBER because Recent Breeding Range Decline (1969-2007), Eaton, M.A. et al. 2009. British Birds 102:296-341

Previous Assessments: 2002-2007 AMBER Gregory, R.D. et al. 2002. British Birds 95:410-448

1996-2001 AMBER Gibbons, D.W. et al. 1996. RSPB Conservation Review 10:7-18

Races of Concern: dougallii RED (Recent Decline)

Habitat Occupancy (in the Breeding Season):

No habitat data from BBS

Migration routes: Map of foreign ringing recoveries and summary map from Time to Fly (in pop-up windows)

European Population Size:

Summer: 480 to 850 thousand pairs Bufield, I. & Van Bommel, F. (2004) Birds in Europe. Birdlife International, Cambridge.

Population Assesment from Birds in Europe

Distribution in Europe mapped by the EBCC Atlas

Listed on the Appendices/Schedules of: WBD(I), Bern(III), Bonn(II*), AEWA

Survey Results:	Results from BirdTrack
	Results from http://www.arctictern.info
Summary text from Seabird 2000 (warning: link to large pdf)

Breeding and Survival
Egg Size: 41 x 30 mm	Egg Weight: 19.0 g (of which 5 % is shell)

Number of Nest Records: 661
Clutch Size: 1 - 2 eggs	1.96 ± 0.55 (1 - 3) N = 453
Incubation: 20- 24 days		by the: Male + Female
Fledging: 21 - 24days		as: Semi-precocial, downy

First Clutches Laid: Unavailable
Number of Broods: 1

Number Ringed: Annual Totals
Adult Survival: 0.900
Juvenile Survival: No data

Age at First Breeding: 4 years	Typical Lifespan: 13 years
Maximum Recorded Age: 29 years 11 months 27 days (set in 2010)
Read a summary of Ringing Recoveries

Biometrics
Ring Size: C2
Wing Length	Adult:	272.0 ± 7.6 Range 243.0 - 295.0 mm, (N = 263)
	Juvenile:	249.8 ± 8.5 Range 209.0 - 268.0 mm, (N = 222)
	Male:	Insufficient Data
	Female:	Insufficient Data

Weight	Adult:	105.9 ± 8.97 Range 84.00 - 135.0 g , (N =221)
	Juvenile:	106.2 ± 11.1 Range 73.0 - 138.0 . , (N =293)
	Male:	Insufficient Data
	Female:	Insufficient Data
	Seasonal:	Summer 105.8 ± 7.99 (N = 1176) Autumn 106.8 ± 9.64 (N = 114)
	Source:	British Trust for Ornithology (2005) Ringing Scheme data

Other Names


Gaelic: Steàrnag-Artaigeach	Welsh: Morwennol y Gogledd
Danish: Havterne	Dutch: Noordse stern
Finnish: Lapintiira	French: Sterne arctique
German: Küstenseeschwalbe	Hungarian: Sarki csér
Icelandic: Kría	Irish: Geabhróg Artach
Italian: Sterna codalunga	Norwegian: Rødnebbterne
Polish: Rybitwa popielata	Portuguese: Andorinha-do-mar-árctica
Spanish: Charrán ártico	Swedish: Silvertärna

Local Names:Sea Swallow, Darr, Rittack, Tarrock

For More Information...
Books and Monographs:
Marples, G. & Marples, A. 1934 The sea terns or sea swallows Country Life Books, London [598.616 MAR]

See Also:
Find scientific papers on Google Scholar or Scirus by clicking the icon
Wikipedia entry
BirdLife species page
Recent sightings and information from BirdGuides
All About Birds (from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology)
Details from the Patuxent Bird Identification Infocenter
Read State of the Nations Birds by Chris Mead

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