Forster's Tern
Sterna forsteri
Least Concern (IUCN Red List)Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers
Call and song
Recording 1 · flight call
Recording 2
Recording 3
About the Forster's Tern
Smaller than all the gulls, with thinner and more pointed bill. Distinguished from other terns by pale whitish wings and orange-based bill in summer, and isolated black ear patch in winter. Forages by circling and hovering over bays, ponds, and lakes, then dropping to snatch fish. Often rests on sandbars, piers, and other structures with other gull and tern species. Snappy, quick wingbeats and acrobatic in flight.
Species account: eBird.org, fetched 2025-12-26 · How these pages are made
Where it has been recorded
Recorded in 32 of the 253 countries we have eBird lists for. Each opens that country's checklist.
- Bahamas
- Belgium
- Belize
- Bermuda
- Canada
- Cayman Islands
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Cuba
- Dominican Republic
- El Salvador
- France
- Guadeloupe
- Guatemala
- Haiti
- Honduras
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Jamaica
- Mexico
- Netherlands
- Nicaragua
- Panama
- Portugal
- Puerto Rico
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Pierre and Miquelon
- Spain
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Virgin Islands (U.S.)
