Learning about Canada: Artic Tern

This morning we were learning about some of the different animals of Canada using this book.

We learned about seals, walruses, a variety of birds, reindeer and so much more. 

I said to the lad "pick an animal and we'll learn more about it".

He picked the Artic Tern.

The Artic tern is a fascinating bird, did you know it flies an annual trip of 40,000 km, from it's Artic Breeding grounds to wintering grounds in the Antarctic.

The Artic Tern is a medium sized bird. Newborns are gray or brown. Adults are gray to white in color during the breeding season. Their beak and legs are red, and a black patch covers the head and forehead. During the non-breeding season, the legs and beak are black and the black patch of color on the head shrinks.


Artic Terns are a long-lived bird, living into their decades and don't start to breed until 3 or 4 years old.

Artic Terns can moult so quickly that they can be flightless.  When they moult they tend to sit on blocks of ice near the water's edge.

The downy young come in two colours, grey and brown, and colours can be mixed in a single hatching.

They normally eat fish and crustaceans, but will also eat insects.   They also will steal food from other birds by flying at them and startling them into dropping their catch.  

Anyways, that's a lesson in the Artic Tern.    Ready for my boy to learn tomorrow.  :)