Arctic Tern

migration · longest journey · seabirds · polar

Champion migrator. The Arctic tern travels the longest distance of any animal on the planet, with some birds flying up to 96,000 kilometers in just ten months. That's like flying to the moon and back, but staying on Earth.

Sees two summers. These clever birds experience summer twice each year by flying from the Arctic in the north to the Antarctic in the south. When one place gets cold and dark, they zoom off to the other place where it's warm and sunny.

Crazy zigzag route. Arctic terns don't fly in a straight line between the poles. Instead, they follow a convoluted route that adds thousands of extra kilometers to their journey, following coastlines and wind patterns.

Born travelers. Baby Arctic terns are born in the far north during summer, then instinctively know to fly thousands of kilometers south without any parents to guide them on their first journey.