Bird

Least Tern

Sternula antillarum

A summer resident that nests in Louisiana. Found in 58 of 64 parishes, across 5 habitats.

Here: Summer and on migration
Nesting: Nests here
Range: 58 of 64 parishes
Habitats: 5

Adult Least Tern, whole bird — **Adult**. no rights reserved. CC0. iNaturalist photo 77435964. iNaturalist large derivative; no local crop or retouch.

At a glance

Group: Birds
Here: Summer and on migration
Nesting: Nests here
Range: 58 of 64 parishes
Habitats: 5
Habitat models: Summer

Where it lives

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

Habitats in Louisiana 5

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

1 of 5

Coastal dunes and beaches

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

SummerUnconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune); Upper Texas Coast Beach; 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.

Summer

Ponds, lakes and their shores

Still water and its edges: ponds, lakes, millponds and reservoirs.

SummerOpen Water (Fresh)

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.

SummerOpen Water (Brackish/Salt)

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

SummerOnly within 1,000 m of water.Developed, Open Space; Cultivated Cropland; Pasture/Hay; Disturbed, Non-specific

Other habitats in its models (31)

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

Elsewhere in the South (20)

Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Sea Island Beach Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Beach Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Dune and Maritime Grassland Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Xeric River Dune Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer.
Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer.
Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer.
Florida Panhandle Beach Vegetation Summer.
Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Summer.
Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer.
South Florida Shell Hash Beach Summer.
Southeast Florida Beach Summer.
Southwest Florida Beach Summer.
Southwest Florida Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer.
Texas Coastal Bend Beach Summer.

Northeast (2)

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

Land cover and other classes (9)

Barren Land Summer, only within 1,000 m of water.
Developed, Low Intensity Summer, only within 1,000 m of water.
Developed, Medium Intensity Summer, only within 1,000 m of water.
Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer.
Quarries, Mines, Gravel Pits and Oil Wells Summer, only within 1,000 m of water.
Recently Burned Grassland Summer, only within 1,000 m of water.
Unconsolidated Shore Summer.
Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Summer.
Western Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer.

All habitats

Seasons in Louisiana

Migratory: does not nest here, in 51 of 64 parishes.
Summer: nests here, in 26 of 64 parishes.

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in Louisiana, 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.