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🐦 The migration of the Arctic tern, pole to pole

Trace the Arctic tern's pole-to-pole journey, from breeding colonies and ocean routes to tracking, timing, and conservation.

4
lessons
~30 min
to learn
Adults
level
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What you’ll learn

  1. A route between two summersExplain why Arctic terns migrate between northern and southern summers and why the trip is a flexible round trip.The tern links Arctic breeding grounds with Antarctic waters, following seasonal light, food, and breeding opportunities.
  2. Fuel, weather, and the oceanConnect breeding deadlines, ocean food, weather, and changing conditions to migration decisions.A short breeding season and moving ocean resources shape when and where Arctic terns travel.
  3. How scientists follow a birdDescribe how geolocators and complementary field methods reveal individual migration routes.Tracking instruments transformed a famous record into measured journeys with detours and individual variation.
  4. A global journey needs global careExplain why conservation must protect connected habitats across the entire migration route.The tern's pole-to-pole life makes climate, food, disturbance, and international cooperation part of one conservation problem.

Questions this course answers

Why does the Arctic tern migrate between the Arctic and Antarctica?

The tern follows two productive summers, breeding in the north and spending the nonbreeding season in the Antarctic region.

Why might an Arctic tern bend its ocean route?

Wind, weather, currents, and prey can make a curved route more useful than a straight one.

What did geolocators help researchers discover?

Recovered geolocators recorded light patterns that let researchers reconstruct broad positions and compare individual tracks.

Why does Arctic tern conservation require international cooperation?

The bird depends on linked breeding, feeding, and resting environments across a pole-to-pole route.

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