After visiting Cornell's Laboratory of Ornithology, I saw a show on Animal Planet on EXtreme Mothers, and was disappointed to see no mention of my favorite seabird, the arctic tern. Arctic terns are best known for their migration, which is the longest of any normal migration in birds, traveling from arctic regions, to Antarctica and back every year (around 71,000 miles). This traveling means that the bird pretty much does everything in the air... landing once every one to three years to nest. Interestingly, this bird species mates for life, which is highly unusual bird behavior. And when they do reproduce, they make damn sure those babies are safe. Arctic terns of both sexes are extremely aggressive defenders of their nests and offspring, and will try to attack humans and other large predators
as shown in the video above where the birds try to attack the cameraman. Although they can't do much damage, they have been known to draw blood.
But that's not all that's involved in child care-a kid's gotta eat. And male arctic terns are responsible for most of the feeding... ah, the perfect man.
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