12 to 15" in length and weighing less than two pounds, the arctic tern migrates longer distances than any other bird -- 22,000 miles or 35,000 km each year, almost the circumference of the earth. During its lifetime, the average arctic tern will have flown a distance comparable to traveling to the moon and back. The arctic tern is white with a black head, orange beak and possesses webbed feet. They breed in the Arctic Circle but each winter make their way to the edges of Antarctica's ice pack. Because of their amazing migration habits, arctic tern see more daylight than any other creature on earth. They feed by diving for krill, small fish and shrimp, sometimes also eating insects or invertebrates. These terns live in groups of approximately 50 birds and occasionally will take sea gulls or other kinds of terns into their colonies. Arctic terns can hover in midair like a hummingbird -- something most birds cannot do.
Learn more about Arctic Terns (Sterna paradisaea).

 
Illustration of a tern (courtesy NOAA)