Polar Newsletter Part 5: Arctic Seabirds
Many birds don’t live in the Polar biomes year round. They migrate there during the summer months to feed and nest. Birds in the Arctic vary from waterfowl, birds of prey, seabirds, shorebirds and song birds. As penguins are specific to the southern hemisphere, the northern hemisphere hosts auks. Arctic auks and penguins have adapted to live year round in this polar ecosystem in a similar way.
Here are some Arctic birds
- Arctic puffins are part of the auk family that live in the northern area.
- The Arctic tern is amazing bird that flies from pole to pole to visit only during the summer seasons.
- Whistling swans migrate to the Arctic tundra to nest and feed their young from the abundance of plants and water insects. They are a type of tundra swan.
- King Eiders are large sea ducks that migrate to the Arctic waters in the summer to nest and feed. They migrate in huge flocks. During other times of the year they live on the edge of the northern polar region.
- Long Tailed Ducks migrate to the Arctic to nest and feed its young. They live along the northern coast of North America.
- Brunnich’s Guillemots are a type of auk. It has a large population that lives outside the Arctic circle. After the fledglings can fly they summer in the arctic seas. These birds are common in Norway.
- Pomarine Jaegar is a seabird that winters in tropical oceans and migrates to the arctic during the warmer summer season. They eat rodents and lemmings.
- Ivory gulls winter in the sea along the ice edges of the northern hemisphere. It nests and lives in the high Arctic during the summer months.
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Polar Newsletter Part 6: Arctic Inland Birds
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