In honor of International Migratory Bird Day, which is on May 10, I’m offering a photo of the amazing Arctic tern, which migrates farther than any bird on the planet.

According to the National Wildlife Federation, the Arctic tern makes a 22,000-30,000 mile journey to and from the Antarctic, which takes the bird 90 days each way. Since the terns migrate over sea, they are rarely seen on land except during breeding season, like the Alaska photo below.

The NWF states, “Arctic terns leave the Arctic Circle and head eastwards across the Atlantic Ocean. They fly down the west coasts of Europe and Africa. In spring they fly north back to the Arctic, following the east coasts of South and North America…Considering an Arctic tern might live up to 30 years, a single bird may travel more than 650,000 miles in its lifetime.”

Arctic terns are 14-17 inches in length and weigh less than 2 pounds. Young terns migrate with their parents down to the Antarctic but they stay there a couple years before migrating back north for their first breeding season.