Birds of Central Oklahoma

All birds Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers

Forster's Tern, winter
Winter Photo by VJAnderson. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Forster's Tern

Sterna forsteri

Here July to January.

Recorded by Paul Marvin. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, via xeno-canto, trimmed and volume evened out.

Look for

  1. In fall and winter, a mostly white head with a bold black patch on each side. The 2 patches don't meet at the back of the head.
  2. A long tail with a fork in it, like 2 points.
  3. In spring and summer, grown-ups have a black cap. Their bill is orange near the face.

A little about it

Forster's Terns are seen here mostly from late summer into winter. A few pass through in spring too. Most of them spend the winter on warm coasts down south.

It eats mostly fish. A tern flies over the water and hovers in one spot. Then it plunges down to grab a fish just under the surface. It also catches bugs in the air, and sometimes it eats frogs.

They nest in marshes. The nest sits on thick plants or on a mat of dead plants that floats. Both parents build it out of reeds and grass. There are usually 3 eggs, and the parents take turns keeping them warm for 23 to 25 days. Near the nest, they chase off other birds.

This tern looks a lot like the Common Tern. The first bird experts mostly missed it because the 2 look so alike.

Fun fact

A Forster's Tern often builds its nest on top of a muskrat's house in the marsh.

When it's here

Taller bars mean more sightings. Most often seen in August.

More winter birds

How big

SparrowRobinCrowGoose

13 to 15 inches, with wings 2 and a half to almost 3 feet across. A little smaller than a crow, with long, pointed wings.

Where to look

Over lakes and marshes. Look for a white bird with long, pointed wings flying over the water.

  • On or by water
  • Flying overhead

People have spotted it at Lake Hefner, Lake Overholser, Lake Thunderbird State Park.

Could it be something else?

  • Ring-billed Gull

    Bigger, with a yellow bill that has a black ring around it. It often walks around on land looking for scraps. A tern hunts by diving into the water from the air.

  • Franklin's Gull

    About the same size. In fall, young Franklin's Gulls have a dark patch on the back of the head, like a scarf. A tern's 2 black patches don't meet in back.

More photos

Forster's Tern, breeding
Breeding Photo by NaturesFan1226. CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Where these facts come from