Species: Sterna forsteri
Forster's Tern
Species
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Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Aves
Order
Charadriiformes
Family
Laridae
Genus
Sterna
NatureServe
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
37
Weight
158
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G5
Global Status Last Reviewed
1996-11-27
Global Status Last Changed
1996-11-27
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
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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
H
Global Range Description
>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)