Forster's Tern

Sterna forsteri Nuttall, 1834

Forster's Tern, Sterna forsteri, breeds across inland parts of North America and also along several coastal stretches, with wintering birds reaching the Gulf of Mexico coast, the Bahamas, Cuba and southern Mexico. It is a tern in the Laridae family. A useful field mark is the black eye mask shown by adults in winter, when the forehead turns white. In breeding plumage it is closer to the common tern, but the tail has a grey centre and the upperwings are paler, lacking the darker wedge on the primaries.

Order

Charadriiformes

Family

Laridae — Gulls, Terns, Skimmers

Breeding range

North America, Middle America: inland c Alberta to c Manitoba (sc Canada) patchily to California and n Baja California (nw Mexico), Colorado, and the Great Lakes; coastal w North Atlantic from New Jersey to North Carolina; Gulf of Mexico coast from Alabama to n Tamaulipas (ne Mexico)

Nonbreeding range

to Gulf of Mexico coast, Bahamas, Cuba and southern Mexico