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Sterna paradisaea

Pontoppidan, 1763

Arctic Tern

G5Secure Found in 36 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.101556
Element CodeABNNM08080
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassAves
OrderCharadriiformes
FamilyLaridae
GenusSterna
Other Common Names
Charrán Ártico, Gaviotín Árctico (ES) Sterne arctique (FR) Trinta-Réis-Árctico (PT)
Concept Reference
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
Taxonomic Comments
Monotypic; no subspecies are recognized. Protein electrophoresis and phenetic evidence suggest that this species is most closely related to the common tern (Sterna hirundo) and Antarctic tern (S. vittata); a few reports of hybridization with common, roseate (S. dougallii) and Forster's terns (S. forsteri) exist (Hatch 2002).
Conservation Status
Rank MethodExpertise without calculation
Review Date2016-04-10
Change Date1996-11-27
Edition Date2008-01-25
Range Extent>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences81 to >300
Rank Reasons
Secure: common, widespread, and abundant.
Range Extent Comments
Breeding range extends from northern Alaska east to northern Ellesmere Island, south to the Aleutian Islands, northwestern British Columbia, northwestern Saskatchewan, northern Ontario, New Brunswick, and along Atlantic coast, locally to Maine and Massachusetts; a disjunct colony exists in Puget Sound, Washington, and solitary nesters in northcentral Montana. Outside North America, nesting occurs in Greenland on all coasts; in the Palearctic north to Iceland, Svalbard, and Franz Josef Land, and south to the Netherlands and sparsely in Belgium, Ireland, and northwestern France; and in northern Russia and widely along Russian far eastern arctic coasts (Wrangel Island, Chukotska and Kamchatka Peninsulas south to Sakhalin Island) (Hatch 2002).

During the nonbreeding season, this species occurs primarily in the antarctic and subantarctic regions of the Southern Hemisphere, with small numbers reported throughout the year from Namibia to Mozambique, southern Australia, and New Zealand (Hatch 2002). Migrants occur widely in areas between the breeding areas and antarctic region.
Occurrences Comments
This species is represented by a large number of nesting occurrences (subpopulations).
Threat Impact Comments
This species is vulnerable to food shortages, predation (including egg predation by humans), pollution, and habitat degradation and loss (Howes and Montevecchi 1993). Disturbance at colony sites could cause desertion or declines (Howes and Montevecchi 1993), but terns have also shown potential for habituation to human activity under certain conditions. Growing gull populations have displaced terns from breeding habitat in some parts of Atlantic Canada and increased predation on young and eggs (Lock 1992). Climatic warming could decrease abundance or change distribution of ice-associated prey species such as the Arctic cod.
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

NON-BREEDING: mostly pelagic, rarely in coastal bays and estuaries. Migrates primarily at sea along coasts. BREEDING: Nests on ground on rocky, sandy, gravelly, or grass-covered coasts and islands, in far north on islands in lakes and ponds and in marshes and on riverine gravel bars, sometimes on open tundra (Terres 1980). See Spendelow and Patton (1988) for further details.

Reproduction

Lays clutch of 2-3 eggs, June-July. Incubation, by both sexes, 20-24 days. Young are tended by both parents, may leave nest soon after hatching but remain nearby, first fly at 20-23 days (then still fed by parents). Nests usually in small scattered colonies, in large dense colonies only at southern edge of range.
Terrestrial Habitats
Grassland/herbaceousTundraBare rock/talus/scree
Palustrine Habitats
HERBACEOUS WETLANDRiparian
Other Nations (2)
United StatesN5B
ProvinceRankNative
OregonSNAYes
AlaskaS4BYes
WashingtonS2BYes
DelawareS2MYes
MaineS2BYes
FloridaSNAYes
VirginiaSNAYes
North CarolinaSNAYes
CaliforniaSNAYes
New HampshireS1BYes
MassachusettsS1B,S1NYes
IdahoSNAYes
New JerseySNAYes
New YorkSNRNYes
CanadaN5B
ProvinceRankNative
Prince Edward IslandS1BYes
Northwest TerritoriesS5Yes
New BrunswickS1B,SUMYes
LabradorS3B,SUMYes
QuebecS4BYes
British ColumbiaS4BYes
AlbertaSUBYes
Yukon TerritoryS4BYes
OntarioS4B,S2MYes
Island of NewfoundlandS4B,SUMYes
Nova ScotiaS3BYes
NunavutS5BYes
SaskatchewanS3BYes
ManitobaS4BYes
Threat Assessments
ThreatScopeSeverityTiming
11 - Climate change & severe weatherPervasive (71-100%)UnknownLow (long-term)
11.1 - Habitat shifting & alterationPervasive (71-100%)UnknownLow (long-term)

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Roadless Areas (36)
Alaska (35)
AreaForestAcres
Bering LakeChugach National Forest965,076
Boston BarChugach National Forest53,617
Brabazon AdditionTongass National Forest498,819
ChichagofTongass National Forest555,858
Chilkat-West Lynn CanalTongass National Forest199,772
Chugach-12Chugach National Forest8,116
Chugach-13Chugach National Forest13,337
College FiordChugach National Forest1,130,818
ConeTongass National Forest128,454
Copper River WetlandsChugach National Forest85,972
Douglas IslandTongass National Forest28,065
EudoraTongass National Forest195,022
Fidalgo-GravinaChugach National Forest257,968
GravinaTongass National Forest37,381
HyderTongass National Forest121,723
Johnson PassChugach National Forest152,508
Juneau UrbanTongass National Forest101,581
Juneau-Skagway IcefieldTongass National Forest1,187,268
Kenai LakeChugach National Forest213,172
Kenai MountainsChugach National Forest306,600
Mansfield PeninsulaTongass National Forest54,991
Nellie JuanChugach National Forest713,697
North KruzofTongass National Forest33,146
Prince William Sound Is.Chugach National Forest118,698
ResurrectionChugach National Forest224,615
RevillaTongass National Forest29,298
RhineTongass National Forest23,010
Roaded DonutChugach National Forest968
Sheridan GlacierChugach National Forest224,683
SpiresTongass National Forest533,746
Taku-SnettishamTongass National Forest664,928
Twenty MileChugach National Forest198,775
Upper SitukTongass National Forest16,789
Windham-Port HoughtonTongass National Forest161,952
Yakutat ForelandsTongass National Forest323,648
New Mexico (1)
AreaForestAcres
Gila BoxGila National Forest23,759
References (41)
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