Antarctic Tern (Sterna vittata)
About the Antarctic Tern
The Antarctic tern (Sterna vittata) is a seabird in the family Laridae. It ranges throughout the southern oceans and is found on small islands around Antarctica as well as on the shores of the mainland. Its diet consists primarily of small fish and crustaceans. It is very similar in appearance to the closely related Arctic tern, but it is stockier, and it is in its breeding plumage in the southern summer, when the Arctic tern has shed old feathers to get its non-breeding plumage. The Antarctic tern does not migrate like the Arctic tern does, but it can still be found on a very large range. This tern species is actually more closely related to the South American tern. Gulls, skuas and jaegers are the primary predators of the bird's eggs and young.
No audio on this page yet
We only publish recordings we may use commercially, because this site is supported by ads. xeno-canto lists 16 recordings for this species: 4 CC BY-NC-SA · 1 CC BY-NC-ND. None of them permits commercial use, so there is no player here — the page is kept as a profile so the bird is not missing from the guide.
As soon as someone uploads a freely licensed recording, we mirror it and the player appears here.
Listed as recorded in Antarctica, France, New Zealand, South Africa in the xeno-canto catalogue.
Related species you can hear
- Arctic TernSterna paradisaearecording
- Common TernSterna hirundorecording
- Forster's TernSterna forsterirecording
- Roseate TernSterna dougalliirecording
This species has no recording here yet — these relatives do, so you can hear what the family sounds like.