arctic tern
noun
: a Holarctic tern (Sterna paradisaea) that breeds in arctic regions and migrates to southern Africa and South America
Examples of arctic tern in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Also an Iceland gull at Nauset Beach in Orleans, an arctic tern and two Caspian terns at Chapin Beach in Dennis, and two pomarine jaegers at Nauset Light in Eastham and another one at Race Point in Provincetown.
—
BostonGlobe.com, 17 Sep. 2022
Even the name, TernPaks, is meant to elicit both conversation and excitement for children to travel because the product happens to be named after the arctic tern, the animal with the longest migration pattern on Earth.
—Stacey Leasca, Travel + Leisure, 24 May 2021
Some arctic terns migrate pole to pole for breeding and wintering, the longest yearly migration of any bird.
—National Geographic, 3 Feb. 2020
Today, a mated pair of mergansers share this bay of the fjord with splashing arctic terns, recently arrived from waters off Antarctica.
—Anchorage Daily News, 8 June 2019
In its lifetime, each of these arctic terns covers a distance equivalent to three or four round trips to the moon.
—Quanta Magazine, 7 May 2018
The 564-acre marsh adjacent to Turnagain Arm is a magnet for birders, who may encounter trumpeter swans, tundra swans, red-necked grebes, northern pintails, arctic terns and other species amid the marsh's sedges.
—Mike Campbell, Alaska Dispatch News, 8 Sep. 2017
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BostonGlobe.com, 17 Sep. 2022
Even the name, TernPaks, is meant to elicit both conversation and excitement for children to travel because the product happens to be named after the arctic tern, the animal with the longest migration pattern on Earth.
—Stacey Leasca, Travel + Leisure, 24 May 2021
Some arctic terns migrate pole to pole for breeding and wintering, the longest yearly migration of any bird.
—National Geographic, 3 Feb. 2020
Today, a mated pair of mergansers share this bay of the fjord with splashing arctic terns, recently arrived from waters off Antarctica.
—Anchorage Daily News, 8 June 2019
In its lifetime, each of these arctic terns covers a distance equivalent to three or four round trips to the moon.
—Quanta Magazine, 7 May 2018
The 564-acre marsh adjacent to Turnagain Arm is a magnet for birders, who may encounter trumpeter swans, tundra swans, red-necked grebes, northern pintails, arctic terns and other species amid the marsh's sedges.
—Mike Campbell, Alaska Dispatch News, 8 Sep. 2017
Cite this Entry
“Arctic tern.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/arctic%20tern. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
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