Bird
Caspian Tern
Hydroprogne caspia
A summer resident that nests in Virginia. Found in 76 of 133 counties and cities, across 7 habitats.
- Here
- Summer and on migration
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- 76 of 133 counties and cities
- Habitats
- 7

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Summer and on migration
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- 76 of 133 counties and cities
- Habitats
- 7
- Habitat models
- Summer, Winter
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in Virginia 7
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.



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.
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.
Marshes along tidal rivers where the water is fresh but rises and falls with the tide.
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.
Other habitats in its models (30)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Virginia.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Beach Summer and winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Summer and winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore Summer and winter.
- Upper Texas Coast Beach Summer and winter.
- Louisiana Beach Summer and winter.
- Southeast Florida Beach Summer and winter.
- South Florida Shell Hash Beach Summer and winter.
- Florida Panhandle Beach Vegetation Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Sea Island Beach Summer and winter.
- Southwest Florida Beach Summer and winter.
- Texas Coastal Bend Beach Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Xeric River Dune Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Dune and Maritime Grassland Summer and winter.
- Southwest Florida Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer and winter.
- Central and Upper Texas Coast Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Summer and winter.
- South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Summer and winter.
- Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Summer and winter.
- Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator Hole Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter.
- South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter.
- Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Slough Summer and winter.
Seasons in Virginia
- Migratory: does not nest here, in 76 of 133 counties and cities.
- Summer: nests here, in 6 of 133 counties and cities.
Also found in this habitat
Plants 117
Plants named in NatureServe descriptions of these habitats that grow in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food.
- Red FescueFestuca rubra
- Fimbristylis carolinianaFimbristylis caroliniana
- Fimbristylis castaneaFimbristylis castanea
- Water-spider OrchidHabenaria repens
- Largeleaf PennywortHydrocotyle bonariensis
- Creeping St. John's-wortHypericum adpressum
- Spotted JewelweedImpatiens capensis
- Dune Marsh-elderIva imbricata
- Creeping RushJuncus repens
- American Water-willowJusticia americana
- Eastern GrasswortLilaeopsis chinensis
- Carolina Sea-lavenderLimonium carolinianum
- SweetgumLiquidambar styraciflua
- PondspiceLitsea aestivalis
- Long Beach SeedboxLudwigia brevipes
- Globefruit SeedboxLudwigia sphaerocarpa
- Shining FetterbushLyonia lucida
- Climbing HempweedMikania scandens
- Loose Water-milfoilMyriophyllum laxum
- American LotusNelumbo lutea
- Big Floating-heartNymphoides aquatica
- Royal FernOsmunda spectabilis
- Panicum amarum var. amarulumPanicum amarulum
Wildlife 219
Other animals whose habitat models include the same habitats in Virginia. Not sighting records.
- American AvocetRecurvirostra americana
- American BitternBotaurus lentiginosus
- American Black DuckAnas rubripes
- American CootFulica americana
- American PipitAnthus rubescens
- Bald EagleHaliaeetus leucocephalus
- Bank SwallowRiparia riparia
- Belted KingfisherMegaceryle alcyon
- Black-crowned Night-heronNycticorax nycticorax
- Black-necked StiltHimantopus mexicanus
- Boat-tailed GrackleQuiscalus major
- Bonaparte's GullChroicocephalus philadelphia
- Canada GooseBranta canadensis
- CanvasbackAythya valisineria
- Common LoonGavia immer
- Common NighthawkChordeiles minor
- Common TernSterna hirundo
- Forster's TernSterna forsteri
- Great Blue HeronArdea herodias
- Great EgretArdea alba
- Great Horned OwlBubo virginianus
- Green HeronButorides virescens
- Horned GrebePodiceps auritus
- Least BitternIxobrychus exilis
NatureServe Explorer, CC BY 4.0. USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP winter habitat model for Caspian Tern Slow streams only
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)








































