Arctic tern on a beach near Bildudalur, West Fjords, Iceland
The Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea), a seabird of the tern family Sternidae. It 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 along a convoluted route from its northern breeding grounds to the Antarctic coast for the southern summer and back again about six months later. Arctic terns are long-lived birds, with many reaching fifteen to thirty years of age. They eat mainly fish and small marine invertebrates. The species is abundant, with an estimated one million individuals. While the trend in the number of individuals in the species as a whole is not known, exploitation in the past has reduced this bird's numbers in the southern reaches of its range.
Size: 6000px × 4000px
Location: West Fjords, Iceland
Photo credit: © Luis Leamus / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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