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The arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea) is a
gonys) and feet, white forehead, a black nape and crown (streaked white), and white cheeks. The arctic tern is K-selected, caring for and aggressively defending a small number of young. Parents feed them fish for a considerable time, and help them fly south to winter. Arctic terns are long-lived birds, with many reaching twenty years of age. They eat mainly fish and small marine invertebrates
. The species has an estimated one million individuals. Exploitation in the past has reduced this bird's numbers in the southern reaches of its range.