Mondo Knows Facts
Arctic terns complete the longest migration of any animal
Arctic terns fly about 90,000 kilometres annually from pole to pole.
Nesting in the Arctic during northern summer and migrating to Antarctic pack ice during southern summer, an Arctic tern sees two summers every year. Over a typical thirty-year lifespan, a single bird flies a total distance equivalent to three round trips to the Moon.
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Tags: arctic-tern, birds, migration
Arctic terns complete the longest migration of any animal: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- Arctic terns fly about 90,000 kilometres annually from pole to pole. The figure is taken from National Geographic, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a animals fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Animals shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.