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Bird

Least Tern

Sternula antillarum

A summer resident that nests in Mississippi. Found in 25 of 82 counties, across 6 habitats.

Here
Summer and on migration
Nesting
Nests here
Range
25 of 82 counties
Habitats
6

At a glance

Group
Birds
Here
Summer and on migration
Nesting
Nests here
Range
25 of 82 counties
Habitats
6
Habitat models
Summer

Where it lives

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

Habitats in Mississippi 6

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

1 of 6

Coastal dunes and beaches

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

SummerUnconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune); Florida Panhandle Beach Vegetation; 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.

Summer

Ponds, lakes and their shores

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

SummerOpen Water (Fresh)

Salt and brackish marshes

Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.

SummerMississippi Sound Salt and 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.

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 (29)

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

Elsewhere in the South (18)
  • 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.
  • Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer.
  • Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer.
  • Floridian Highlands Freshwater 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.
  • Upper Texas Coast 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 Mississippi

  • Migratory: does not nest here, in 9 of 82 counties.
  • Summer: nests here, in 19 of 82 counties.

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in Mississippi, 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.

Coastal dunes and beaches

Birds 123

Plants 118

All of coastal dunes and beaches in Mississippi

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Birds 119

Plants 1094

All of roadsides, fields and disturbed ground in Mississippi

Coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated)

Birds 88

Plants 30

All of coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated) in Mississippi

USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.

Sources