Forster's Tern Sterna forsteri
STANFORD LOCATIONS: Uncommon and irregular forager at Lagunita.

Nest Location	Nest Type	Eggs Mating System	Dev. Parental Care	Primary & 2ndary Diet	Foraging Strategy
			MF I: 23-24 DAYS SEMIPRECOCIAL
GROUND	SAUCER MF	3 (2-5) MONOG	F: ? DAYS MF	INSECTS AQUATIC INVERTS	AERIAL FORAGE

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BREEDING:	Freshwater and saltwater marshes, marshy borders of ponds and lakes. 1 brood.
DISPLAYS:	?
NEST:	Deeply hollowed, well rounded, compactly woven platform; lined with bits of reeds, grass. Also makes depression in mud and sand or pats down grass and soil, lined with shells, grass. Often on muskrat houses, Occ nests of Western Grebe.
EGGS:	Buff, marked with dark brown, often enwreathed. 1.7" (43 mm).
DIET:	Insects taken flying over marshes. Also dead fish, live and dead frogs.
CONSERVATION:	Winters s to Guatemala (w), Bahamas and Greater Antilles (e). Often associates with wetlands affected by agriculture but impact on terns unknown.
NOTES:	Usu in loose colony; often associates with Yellow-headed Blackbird. Site tenacity weak. Larger clutches typically result of 2 females. Usu large, elaborate, well-built nests, similar to those of Franklin's Gull. Vigorous nest defense. Nests occ parasitized by American Coots and Red-necked Grebes. Hostile to other birds, including Franklin's Gull.
ESSAYS:	Parent-Chick Recognition; Swimming; Site Tenacity; Coloniality; Brood Parasitism.
REFERENCES:	Bergman et al., 1970; McNicholl, 1982; Salt and Willard, 1971.

Help	Abbreviations	Species-Alphabetical	Species-Taxonomic	Essays-Alphabetical	Essays-Categorized
Except for Stanford Locations, the material in this species treatment is taken, with permission, from The Birder's Handbook (Paul Ehrlich, David Dobkin, & Darryl Wheye, Simon & Schuster, NY. 1988).