Bird

Forster's Tern

Sterna forsteri

Names as given by USGS GAP.

Year-round, migratory and winter in Florida, breeding, in the USGS range maps. Its habitat models include 10 habitats found here.

Seasons here: Year-round, migratory and winter
Breeding: Breeding
Range: 67 of 67 counties
Habitats: 10

Adult Forster's Tern, whole bird — **Adult**. (c) Kathy Richardson, some rights reserved (CC BY). CC BY. iNaturalist photo 75107708. iNaturalist large derivative; no local crop or retouch.

At a glance

Group: Birds
Seasons in Florida: Year-round, migratory and winter
Breeding: Breeding
Counties in known range: 67 of 67
Habitat models: Summer, Winter

Where it lives

Southeast habitat models (USGS, 2001 land cover). The bird is not in every place a habitat occurs. USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models Summer model Winter model

Habitats in Florida 10

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there. Shared habitat, not food.

1 of 10

SummerWinterSouth Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh; Floridian Highlands Freshwater MarshRegional / representative. Shown: Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Georgia; representative pond ecosystem, a neighboring state.Georgia pond and emergent wetland, Robert 'Bob' Hynes, 1997. Public domain. Source record.

Coastal dunes and beaches

Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Southern Beach; Unconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune); Southeast Florida Beach; South Florida Shell Hash Beach; Atlantic Coastal Plain Sea Island Beach; Southwest Florida Beach; Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Dune and Maritime Grassland; East Gulf Coastal Plain Dune and Coastal Grassland; Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Interdunal Wetland

Coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated)

Tidal marshes of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts where the source does not say whether the water is fresh, brackish or salt. A stated salinity files the marsh under freshwater tidal marshes or salt and brackish marshes instead.

SummerWinter

Disturbed and introduced wetlands

Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.

SummerWinter

Freshwater tidal marshes

Marshes along tidal rivers where the water is fresh but rises and falls with the tide.

SummerWinterFlorida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh; Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh

Salt and brackish marshes

Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh; Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh; Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh; Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh

Sounds, bays and tidal flats

Salt and brackish open water of sounds, bays and estuaries, with the mud and sand flats and seagrass beds that tides cover and uncover; the vegetated marsh is salt and brackish marshes.

SummerWinterOpen Water (Brackish/Salt)

Coastal Plain seepage bogs

Open, wet, seepage-fed bogs of the Coastal Plain and Sandhills, often with pitcher plants.

SummerNext to its main habitatSouthern Coastal Plain Herbaceous Seepage Bog

Depression ponds and limesinks

Shallow ponds in Coastal Plain depressions, such as limesinks and the ponds in some Carolina bays, that rise and fall with the seasons.

SummerWinterNext to its main habitatCentral Florida Herbaceous Pondshore; Atlantic Coastal Plain Depression Pondshore

Other habitats in its models (24)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Florida.

Open Water (Aquaculture) Summer and winter
Barren Land Summer and winter. Next to its main habitat. Only within 120 m of water
Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Summer and winter
Unconsolidated Shore Summer and winter
Upper Texas Coast Beach Summer and winter. Next to its main habitat. Next to its main habitat
Louisiana Beach Summer and winter. Next to its main habitat. Next to its main habitat
Texas Coastal Bend Beach Summer and winter. Next to its main habitat. Next to its main habitat
Atlantic Coastal Plain Xeric River Dune Summer and winter. Next to its main habitat. Next to its main habitat
Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh Summer and winter
Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt Marsh Summer and winter
Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Summer. Next to its main habitat. Next to its main habitat
Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh Summer and winter
Central Florida Herbaceous Seep Summer and winter. Next to its main habitat. Next to its main habitat
Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter
South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Summer. Next to its main habitat. Next to its main habitat
Eastern Great Plains Wet Meadow, Prairie, and Marsh Summer. Next to its main habitat. Next to its main habitat
Western Great Plains Depressional Wetland Systems Summer and winter
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Summer. Next to its main habitat. Next to its main habitat
South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator Hole Summer. Next to its main habitat. Next to its main habitat
East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Summer. Next to its main habitat. Next to its main habitat
South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Summer. Next to its main habitat. Next to its main habitat
Western Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer. Next to its main habitat. Next to its main habitat
Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems Summer. Next to its main habitat. Next to its main habitat
Ozark-Ouachita Riparian Summer. Next to its main habitat. Next to its main habitat