Distinguishable from similar terns by its short red bill. It breeds across Alaska and northern Canada, southward to northern British Columbia, Hudson Bay, and along Atlantic Coast to Massachusetts. Also in Greenland, Iceland, and northern Eurasia. During the winter it can be found on pack ice off of Antarctica. It can travel up to 40,000km in a year and the bird is sometimes referred to as the champion migrator.

The Arctic Tern can live to be at least 34 years old. It usually does not begin to breed until it is three or four years old.