Bird
Black Tern
Chlidonias niger
Passes through West Virginia on migration. Found in all 55 counties, across 2 habitats.
- Here
- On migration
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- All 55 counties
- Habitats
- 2

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- On migration
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- All 55 counties
- Habitats
- 2
- Habitat models
- Summer
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in West Virginia 2
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.
Still water and its edges: ponds, lakes, millponds and reservoirs.
Other habitats in its models (1)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in West Virginia. Those recorded in West Virginia first, the rest by region.
Land cover and other classes (1)
- South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Summer.
Seasons in West Virginia
- Migratory: does not nest here, in all 55 counties.
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in West Virginia, 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.
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Birds 120
- Northern WaterthrushSeiurus noveboracensis
- Forster's TernSterna forsteri
- American BitternBotaurus lentiginosus
- Bonaparte's GullChroicocephalus philadelphia
- Caspian TernHydroprogne caspia
- Common LoonGavia immer
- Common TernSterna hirundo
- DickcisselSpiza americana
- DunlinCalidris alpina
- Greater ScaupAythya marila
- King RailRallus elegans
- Lapland LongspurCalcarius lapponicus
Plants 12
- Slender FimbryFimbristylis autumnalis
- Blue MistflowerConoclinium coelestinum
- False DaisyEclipta prostrata
- Intermediate Spike RushEleocharis intermedia
- Blunt Spike RushEleocharis obtusa
- Bristly SedgeCarex comosa
- Sensitive FernOnoclea sensibilis
- Heart Leaf WillowSalix eriocephala
- Cuscuta gronovii var. gronoviiCuscuta gronovii var. gronovii
- European Gray WillowSalix cinerea
- Ricefield FlatsedgeCyperus iria
- White WillowSalix alba
Ponds, lakes and their shores
Birds 58
- BuffleheadBucephala albeola
- Common GoldeneyeBucephala clangula
- Eurasian WigeonAnas penelope
- Long-tailed DuckClangula hyemalis
- RedheadAythya americana
- American BitternBotaurus lentiginosus
- Blue-winged TealAnas discors
- Bonaparte's GullChroicocephalus philadelphia
- Caspian TernHydroprogne caspia
- Common LoonGavia immer
- Common TernSterna hirundo
- Greater ScaupAythya marila
Plants 109
- Stiff Yellow FlaxLinum medium
- Northeastern BulrushScirpus ancistrochaetus
- Sago PondweedStuckenia pectinata
- Common BladderwortUtricularia macrorhiza
- Horned PondweedZannichellia palustris
- Coastal Plain WillowSalix caroliniana
- Northern St. John's-wortHypericum boreale
- Southern Marsh St. John's-wortTriadenum tubulosum
- White Water CrowfootRanunculus longirostris
- Engelmann's ArrowheadSagittaria engelmanniana
- Grassy ArrowheadSagittaria graminea
- Whiteroot RushJuncus brachycarpus
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP summer habitat model for Black Tern Elevation up to 1,540 m
- 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)































