Arctic tern  (Sterna paradisaea)

Arctic terns breed around the Arctic and temperate northern parts of the northern Hemisphere. They travel massive distances to overwinter in the Southern Ocean and Antarctica (4). The population that breeds in Britain and Ireland is at the southern-most limit of its breeding range. This range extends through Greenland and Iceland, along the Baltic and Scandinavian coasts reaching into Siberia. Most of the British breeding population occurs in Scotland, Orkney, Shetland and the Hebrides. Populations also occur in England in the northwest and northeast and there are small numbers in Norfolk and around the southern coast; they also breed in Anglesey in Wales (4).

In Britain, this species breeds around the coast (4) in open sand or shingle habitats or in moorland and coastal heathland (3). As they are vulnerable to predation, they often breed on offshore islands areas where there are no mammal predators such as rats and mink (3). In winter this species stays out at sea, resting on floating objects and ice (3).