Bird

Forster's Tern

Sterna forsteri

Lives in Florida all year and nests here. Found in all 67 counties, across 12 habitats.

Here: All year
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 67 counties
Habitats: 12

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
Here: All year
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 67 counties
Habitats: 12
Habitat models: Summer, Winter

Where it lives

The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.

Habitats in Florida 12

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 12

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 WetlandGeorge Catlin, White Sand Bluffs, on Santa Rosa Island, Near Pensacola (1834-35): high white dunes with scattered clumps of dune plants above the Gulf. Santa Rosa Island near Pensacola, FloridaWhite Sand Bluffs, on Santa Rosa Island, Near Pensacola, George Catlin (1796-1872), 1834-1835. Public domain. Source record.

SummerWinterMartin Johnson Heade, On the San Sebastian River (c. 1883-90): a tidal river winding through flat marsh under storm clouds at sunset. San Sebastian River, St. Augustine, FloridaOn the San Sebastian River, Floridalabel QS:Len,"On the San Sebastian River, Florida", Martin Johnson Heade, c. 1883-1890. Public domain. Source record.

SummerWinterSouth Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh; Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh; South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator HoleMartin Johnson Heade, The Great Florida Marsh (1886): open marsh and lily-dotted water beneath live oaks and cabbage palms. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. Florida (Heade, The Great Florida Marsh, 1886; North Carolina Museum of Art)*The Great Florida Marsh*, Martin Johnson Heade, 1886. Public domain. Source record.

SummerWinterOpen Water (Fresh); Atlantic Coastal Plain Large Natural LakeshoreMartin Johnson Heade, Florida Sunrise: still water and a palm-fringed shore glowing at dawn. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. Florida (Heade, Florida Sunrise, c. 1890-1900)*Florida Sunrisetitle QS:P1476,en:"Florida Sunrise"label QS:Len,"Florida Sunrise"*, Martin Johnson Heade, c. 1890-1900. Public domain. Source record.

SummerWinterOpen Water (Brackish/Salt)Thomas Moran, Fort George Island (1878): a tidal shore of wet sand and shallow water at the river mouth, with cabbage palms and a beached ship. Fort George Island, Florida (Thomas Moran, 1878; Smithsonian American Art Museum)*Fort George Island, Florida*, Thomas Moran, 1878. Public domain. Source record.

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

Coastal Plain seepage bogs

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

SummerBeside its main habitat.Southern 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.

SummerWinterBeside its main habitat.Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore; Atlantic Coastal Plain Depression Pondshore

Seeps and springs

Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.

SummerWinterBeside its main habitat.Central Florida Herbaceous Seep

Wet meadows

Open, wet, grassy or sedgy ground that is not a bog.

SummerBeside its main habitat.South Florida Wet Marl Prairie

Other habitats in its models (21)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Florida. Those recorded in Florida first, the rest by region.

Elsewhere in the South (7)

Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh Summer and winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh Summer and winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Xeric River Dune Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
Louisiana Beach Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
Ozark-Ouachita Riparian Summer, beside its main habitat.
Texas Coastal Bend Beach Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
Upper Texas Coast Beach Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.

Northeast (2)

Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt Marsh Summer and winter.

Land cover and other classes (12)

Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Summer, beside its main habitat.
Barren Land Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems Summer, beside its main habitat.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Summer, beside its main habitat.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Summer, beside its main habitat.
Eastern Great Plains Wet Meadow, Prairie, and Marsh Summer, beside its main habitat.
Open Water (Aquaculture) Summer and winter.
South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Summer, beside its main habitat.
Unconsolidated Shore Summer and winter.
Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Summer and winter.
Western Great Plains Depressional Wetland Systems Summer and winter.
Western Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer, beside its main habitat.

All habitats

Seasons in Florida

Year-round: nests here, in 2 of 67 counties.
Migratory: does not nest here, in 10 of 67 counties.
Winter: does not nest here, in all 67 counties.

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in Florida, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.