Species: Sterna forsteri

Forster's Tern

Species

Birds

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Terrestrial vertebrates: birds

Salish Sea-reliant birds

Species of concern in the Salish Sea

Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

Classification

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Craniata

Class

Aves

Order

Charadriiformes

Family

Laridae

Genus

Sterna

NatureServe

Source:
ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.101506

Classification

Other Global Common Names

Charrán de Forster - Trinta-Réis-de-Forster - sterne de Forster

Informal Taxonomy

Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Other Birds

Formal Taxonomy

Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Charadriiformes - Laridae - Sterna

Ecology and Life History

Migration

false - true - true - Migrates primarily through interior North America. Migratory status in the western Gulf of Mexico? Birds from Atlantic coast breeding population apparently disperse northward, at least to New England, prior to fall migration (AOU 1983).

Non-migrant

false

Locally Migrant

true

Food Comments

Catches flying insects (e.g., dragonflies, caddisflies) or snatches up insects (e.g., dead beetles) off the surface of the water while in flight; dives into water for fishes (Terres 1980).

Reproduction Comments

Along the U.S. mid-Atlantic coast, lays eggs from late May to mid-June. Both sexes incubate usually 3-4 eggs for about 23-24 days. Semi-precocial young are tended by both adults until capable of flight, fledge at 3-4 weeks, remain with parents well into the fall (Byrd and Johnston 1991). Often renests if first nest is lost to tidal flooding. Nests in loose colonies or singly. Colony size along the Atlantic coast is less than 500, up to several thousand in Louisiana (Spendelow and Patton 1988).

Ecology Comments

Breeding: Forage up to 3.2 kilometers from nest (Van Rossem 1933). Nonbreeding: singly or in small loose groups.

Length

Weight

158

Conservation Status

NatureServe Global Status Rank

Global Status Last Reviewed

1996-11-27

Global Status Last Changed

1996-11-27

Distribution

Conservation Status Map

Global Range

H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - BREEDS: central Prairie Provinces of Canada (Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba, to southeastern British Columbia) south to southern California, western Nevada, southern Idaho, northern Utah, northern and eastern Colorado, central Kansas, western Nebraska, northern Iowa, northwestern Indiana, to eastern Michigan; coastally from northeastern Mexico (Tamaulipas), southeastern Texas to southern Alabama; along the Atlantic coast from Long Island to (rarely) South Carolina. WINTERS: central California and Baja California to Oaxaca and Guatemala, casually to Costa Rica; northern Veracruz to western Florida; Virginia to northern Florida; Bahamas and Greater Antilles.

Global Range Code

Global Range Description

>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)

ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.101506