Bird
Sandwich Tern
Thalasseus sandvicensis
A summer resident that nests in Virginia. Found in 21 of 133 counties and cities, across 4 habitats.
- Here
- Summer
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- 21 of 133 counties and cities
- Habitats
- 4

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Summer
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- 21 of 133 counties and cities
- Habitats
- 4
- Habitat models
- Summer, Winter
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in Virginia 4
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.


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.
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 (19)
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.
- 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.
- Southwest Florida Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer and winter.
- Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dune and Swale Summer and winter.
- South Texas 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.
- South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Summer and winter.
Seasons in Virginia
- Summer: nests here, in 21 of 133 counties and cities.
Also found in this habitat
Plants 59
Plants named in NatureServe descriptions of these habitats that grow in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food.
- Fimbristylis castaneaFimbristylis castanea
- Largeleaf PennywortHydrocotyle bonariensis
- Dune Marsh-elderIva imbricata
- Black NeedlerushJuncus roemerianus
- Rice CutgrassLeersia oryzoides
- Carolina Sea-lavenderLimonium carolinianum
- Welsh MudwortLimosella australis
- Marsh SeedboxLudwigia palustris
- Panicum amarum var. amarulumPanicum amarulum
- MaidencanePanicum hemitomon
- KnotgrassPaspalum distichum
- Dotted SmartweedPersicaria punctata
- Loblolly PinePinus taeda
- Seabeach KnotweedPolygonum glaucum
- Live OakQuercus virginiana
- Starrush Whitetop SedgeRhynchospora colorata
- Shortbeak BeaksedgeRhynchospora nitens
- Widgeon-grassRuppia maritima
- Dwarf ArrowheadSagittaria subulata
- Giant BristlegrassSetaria magna
- Prairie CordgrassSpartina pectinata
- Sago PondweedStuckenia pectinata
- Annual Sea-bliteSuaeda linearis
Wildlife 218
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 OystercatcherHaematopus palliatus
- American PipitAnthus rubescens
- Bald EagleHaliaeetus leucocephalus
- Bank SwallowRiparia riparia
- Barn SwallowHirundo rustica
- Belted KingfisherMegaceryle alcyon
- Black-crowned Night-heronNycticorax nycticorax
- Black-necked StiltHimantopus mexicanus
- Boat-tailed GrackleQuiscalus major
- Bonaparte's GullChroicocephalus philadelphia
- Brown PelicanPelecanus occidentalis
- Canada GooseBranta canadensis
- CanvasbackAythya valisineria
- Caspian TernHydroprogne caspia
- Common LoonGavia immer
- Common NighthawkChordeiles minor
- Common TernSterna hirundo
- Eastern Brown PelicanPelecanus occidentalis carolinensis
- Forster's TernSterna forsteri
- Great Blue HeronArdea herodias
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 Sandwich Tern Brackish or salt water 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)





































