BTO BirdFacts - Forster’s Tern


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Forster’s Tern Sterna forsteri [Nuttall, 1834]


	Order: Charadriiformes	Family: Sternidae
	BTO Codes: FO , FORTE	EURING No: 6180
	Number in Britain: 0 records/year
	Conservation Status:
	UK: Unlisted
	European: Not evaluated
	Global: Least Concern
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Scientific name from:	Old English: stearn=a tern and after Johann Forster (1729-98), naturalist on Cook's ship Resolution
World Distribution:	BREEDS: North America, WINTERS: s US & Caribbean

Habitat:	Seacoasts, marshes, in winter lakes & estuaries
Diet:	Mostly small fish (<10 cm), small arthropods
TitBit:	IN some areas, the floating nests of Forster's Terns face an unusual hazard - spawning carp can work up such a frenzy that they sometimes dislodge eggs from the bird's nest


Records and Distribution

First Record: Cornwall, 1980 (Cave, B. 1982. British Birds 75:55-61)
Total Number of Records (1958-2004): 20	Summary of Records by Year
Most Likely to Occur in: Too few records

Most Recent County Records:
Scotland: Argyll (2003), Lothian (1994), Orkney (2001),
North-east England: Northumberland (1995),
North-west England: Lancashire (1992),
English Midlands: No Records
Eastern England: Essex (2000),
South-east England: Kent ,
South-west England: Cornwall (2002), Dorset (1996), Somerset (1987),
Wales: Anglesey (1989), Clwyd (1987), Gwynedd (2000), Pembrokeshire (2000),


Other Names



Gaelic:	Welsh: Morwennol Forster
Danish: Fortsters terne	Dutch: Forsters stern
Finnish: Hopeatiira	French: Sterne de Forster
German: Forstersseeschwalbe	Hungarian: Forster csér
Icelandic: Tálþerna	Irish: Geabhróg Forster
Italian: Sterna di Forster	Norwegian: Gråhaleterne
Polish: Rybitwa czarnoucha	Portuguese: Garajau de Forster
Spanish: Charrán de Forster	Swedish: Kärrtärna

For More Information...

Books and Monographs:

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See Also:

All About Birds (Cornell Lab of Ornithology)

Gough, G.A. et al. (1998) Patuxent Bird Identification Infocenter

Wikipedia entry

Recent sightings and information from BirdGuides.com

Find papers on Google Scholar

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These data should be cited as: Robinson, R.A. (2005) BirdFacts: profiles of birds occurring in Britain & Ireland (v1.22, Oct 2008). BTO Research Report 407, BTO, Thetford (http://www.bto.org/birdfacts)		© British Trust for Ornithology, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk IP24 2PU, UK. Terms and Conditions \| Privacy Statement Registered Charity Number 216652.
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