Forster's Tern
Sterna forsteri
Smaller than all the gulls, with thinner and more pointed bill. Distinguished from other terns by pale whitish wings and orange-based bill in summer, and isolated black ear patch in winter. Forages by circling and hovering over bays, ponds, and lakes, then dropping to snatch fish. Often rests on sandbars, piers, and other structures with other gull and tern species. Snappy, quick wingbeats and acrobatic in flight.
Identification
Forster's tern is a medium-sized tern with a slender body, deeply forked long tail and relatively long legs.<p>In its non-breeding plumage, the crown is white and a black comma-shaped patch covers the eye and the ear-covert. The wings are grey with the primaries being dark silver grey, while the underside is white. The bill is black and the legs are a dull brownish red.<p>When breeding, an intense black cap extending down the neck appears. The wings and the back are pale grey while the underside is bright white. It has a black-tipped orange bill and bright orange legs.<p>The juveniles have coloring similar to a non-breeding adult but often have darker primaries.
Taxonomy
Forster's tern is a member of the Sternidae. They were previously considered as a subfamily of the Laridae (gull) but have been classified as a distinct family since 1838. Linnaeus described the tern using the term rustrum subulatum in reference to their awl-shaped bill. Forster's tern was named in honor of Johann Reinhold Forster, a German naturalist.
- Scientific name
- Sterna forsteri
- Authority
- Nuttall, 1834
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Laridae
- Genus
- Sterna
Range and habitat
Forster's tern is a marsh dwelling species. It can be found either in freshwater, brackish or saltwater. It is often found over shallow open water deep in the marsh. Main habitats are marshes, estuaries, islands, salt marshes and marshy areas surrounding lakes and streams.<p>Forster's tern is usually restricted to North America. It nests in marshes during the summer, either on the Atlantic or Pacific coast, but also in the Prairies or along the Great Lakes in Canada and the US. Due to the instability of its nesting habitat, Forster's tern exhibits a high annual turnover rate.<p>Forster's tern also winters in marshes along the southern coast of the US and Mexico but can sometimes reach the northern extremity of Central America. It is also common for the tern to winter in the Caribbean.<p>It near annual vagrant to Western Europe and has occasionally wintered in Great Britain and Ireland.
- Breeding range
- NA, MA : inland c Alberta to c Manitoba (sc Canada) patchily to California and n Baja California (nw Mexico), Colorado, and the Great Lakes; coastal w North Atlantic from New Jersey to North Carolina; Gulf of Mexico coast from Alabama to n Tamaulipas (ne Mexico)
- Non-breeding range
- to Gulf of Mexico coast, Bahamas, Cuba and southern Mexico
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
Migration pattern: Complete migrants.
Conservation
Population trend: rising.
- Population trend
- rising
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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