Population status

Arctic Tern
(Sterna paradisaea)

Monitoring Arctic Terns is a significant challenge. Much of their breeding range is remote, they are difficult to distinguish from Common Terns with which their range overlaps, and they shift unpredictably among breeding locations (Gilchrist and Robertson 1999). The few indicators available suggest a declining population in the Arctic, including the Queens Channel region in the central High Arctic (Maftei et al. 2015), and the Belcher Islands (Gilchrist and Robertson 1999). Regional coastal waterbird surveys in Atlantic Canada suggest fluctuating, but seemingly stable, numbers of Arctic Terns (Thomas et al. 2014, Ronconi et al. 2016). Because the species is not systematically monitored across the vast majority of its broad breeding range, its status in Canada as a whole remains unknown. Future assessments of status may be improved when results from the Arctic Program for Regional and International Shorebird Monitoring (Arctic PRISM) become available. Because of the lack of information, a national population goal for the Arctic Tern has not yet been determined.

 

Population goal and acceptable levels of variation

Species/groupGoalLower levelUpper level
Arctic TernTo be determinedTo be determinedNot applicable

References