The arctic tern
Ease in traveling is not what matters to the Arctic tern; what really matters is distance.
This bird has won for itself a reputation as long-distance champion traveler, for the Arctic tern has the longest migration of any known animal: a yearly journey of about 40,000 kilometers!
This champion globe-trotter nests as far north as there is any land to nest on; one nest was found just 724 kilometers from the North Pole.
When the young are able to fly, they leave their Arctic nests and set out for their winter homes in the Antarctic, 18,000 kilometers away.
Because of its traveling back and forth between the Arctic and the Antarctic, the Arctic tern is constantly in areas where the daylight hours are the longest and so wins for itself another record-that of enjoying more daylight than any other living animal.
During a year’s time the bird must fly many miles foraging for food so that the travel each year for the Arctic tern must add up to a distance about 40,000 kilometers which equals to distance of traveling around the earth's circumference.
