Bonn, 8 February 2012 - The Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea (listed under Appendix II of CMS and on AEWA) makes an incredible migration each year. These small birds travel distances of more than 50,000 miles, from pole to pole, crossing through temperate and tropical regions along the way.

Arctic Terns are categorized as threatened or as species of concern in certain countries, while BirdLife International has considered the species to be at lower risk since 1988, believing that there are approximately one million individuals around the world. The Arctic Tern has a circumpolar range, breeding in the Arctic and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia and North America as far south as Brittany, France and Massachusetts, USA. It is a trans-equatorial migrant, and during the boreal winter the birds can be found throughout the Southern Ocean to the edge of the Antarctic ice and the southern tips of South America and Africa.

Carsten Egevang used geo-locator tags to track ten of these terns, and he shows us how they fared on this fantastic video. To see the video click here.