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GALLERIES > BIRDS > CHARADRIIFORMES > LARIDAE > FORSTER'S TERN [Sterna forsteri]    [plot on map]


Forster's Tern Photo @ Kiwifoto.com
 
 
Location: Huntington Beach (Bolsa Chica Lagoon), CA
Date: June 16, 2007
ID : 0664 [3888 x 2592]

Forster's Tern Photo @ Kiwifoto.com
 
 
Location: Goose Island State Park, TX
GPS: 28.1N, -96.9W, elev=-1' MAP
Date: February 1, 2009
ID : 7C2V4302 [3888 x 2592]

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Forster's Tern Picture @ Kiwifoto.com
 
 
Location: Huntington Beach (Bolsa Chica Lagoon), CA
GPS: 33.7N, -118.1W, elev=27' MAP
Date: October 31, 2010
ID : 7C2V3576 [3888 x 2592]

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Forster's Tern Photo @ Kiwifoto.com
 
 
Location: Huntington Beach (Bolsa Chica Lagoon), CA
GPS: 33.7N, -118.1W, elev=27' MAP
Date: August 3, 2008
ID : 7C2V6543 [3888 x 2592]

Forster's Tern Picture @ Kiwifoto.com
 
 
Location: Goose Island State Park, TX
GPS: 28.1N, -96.9W, elev=-1' MAP
Date: February 1, 2009
ID : 7C2V4305 [3888 x 2592]

nature photography

Forster's Tern Picture @ Kiwifoto.com
 
 
Location: Goose Island State Park, TX
GPS: 28.1N, -96.9W, elev=-1' MAP
Date: February 1, 2009
ID : 7C2V4307 [3888 x 2592]

Forster's Tern Photo @ Kiwifoto.com
 
 
Location: Jekyll Island, GA
GPS: 31.1N, -81.4W, elev=7' MAP
Date: February 10, 2008
ID : 3715 [3888 x 2592]

bird photography

Forster's Tern Photo @ Kiwifoto.com
 
 
Location: Huntington Beach (Bolsa Chica Lagoon), CA
Date: June 16, 2007
ID : ? [3888 x 2592]

Forster's Tern Image @ Kiwifoto.com
 
 
Location: Huntington Beach (Bolsa Chica Lagoon), CA
Date: June 16, 2007
ID : ? [3888 x 2592]

bird photography

Forster's Tern Picture @ Kiwifoto.com
 
 
Location: Huntington Beach (Bolsa Chica Lagoon), CA
Date: June 16, 2007
ID : ? [3888 x 2592]

Forster's Tern Picture @ Kiwifoto.com
 
 
Location: Huntington Beach (Bolsa Chica Lagoon), CA
Date: June 16, 2007
ID : ? [3888 x 2592]

nature photography

Forster's Tern Photo @ Kiwifoto.com
 
 
Location: Huntington Beach (Bolsa Chica Lagoon), CA
Date: June 16, 2007
ID : ? [3888 x 2592]

bird photography

SPECIES INFO

The Forster's Tern, Sterna forsteri, is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae. It breeds inland in North America and winters south to the Caribbean and northern South America.

This species is rare but annual in western Europe, and has wintered in Ireland and Great Britain on a number of occasions. No European tern winters so far north.

This species breeds in colonies in marshes. It nests in a ground scrape and lays three or more eggs. Like all white terns, it is fiercely defensive of its nest and young.

The Forster's Tern feeds by plunge-diving for fish, but will also hawk for insects in its breeding marshes. It usually feeds from saline environments in winter, like most Sterna terns. It usually dives directly, and not from the "stepped-hover" favoured by the Arctic Tern. The offering of fish by the male to the female is part of the courtship display.

This is a small tern, 33-36cm long with a 64-70cm wingspan. It is most similar to the Common Tern. It has pale grey upperparts and white underparts. Its legs are red and its bill is red, tipped with black. In winter, the forehead becomes white and a characteristic black eyemask remains. Juvenile Forster's Terns are similar to the winter adult. The call is a harsh noise like a Black-headed Gull.

This species is unlikely to be confused with the Common Tern in winter because of the black eyemask, but is much more similar in breeding plumage. Forster's has a grey centre to its white tail, and the upperwings are pure white, without the darker primary wedge of Common.

This bird is named after the naturalist Johann Reinhold Forster.




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forsters_tern's Range Map Click here to see the Forster's Tern's range map!
Listen to the Forster's Tern Song:



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