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The world’s most travelled bird

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The Arctic Tern is a seasoned traveller. It
breeds in the Northern Hemisphere, mostly
within the Arctic Circle, but flies to
spend the northern winter in the Southern
Hemisphere, mostly in the Antarctic ice-packs.
This journey to the Antarctic enables the
Arctic Tern to enjoy the benefits of a
second summer with its long days and
plentiful supply of food.
The round-trip journey between Arctic and Antarctic is 35,000
km (21,750 miles) -- roughly the same distance as the
entire circumference of the earth.
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[Move your mouse over the boxes to see the direction of flight]
Considering that some
Arctic Terns live 30 years or more, this means that they
have travelled over 1 million km (over 650,000 miles) in
their lifetime. For birds that are only 38 cm long and
300 gm in weight, this is no mean achievement.
Arctic Terns breed in colonies numbering hundreds or
sometimes thousands of pairs. The breeding colonies are
generally very noisy, but every so often all the birds
suddenly go completely quiet and then fly up together and
out to sea. This odd behaviour is called "dread", but the
reason for it is not understood.
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