Stats

Lifespan

10-16 yrs

Size

Medium

Diet

Carnivore

Activity

Diurnal

Social

Colony

Biome

Freshwater wetland

Range

North America

Movement

Flight

Breeding

Egg-laying

Defense

Speed

Status

Common

About

This seabird nests in floating marsh vegetation across North American wetlands. It performs complex aerial maneuvers to snatch insects and fish directly from the water.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   egg

   A clutch of eggs is incubated in the nest, kept warm by a brooding parent until the chicks pip free.
2. 2.
   hatchling

   A naked or downy hatchling is fed in the nest by its parents.
3. 3.
   juvenile

   A feathered juvenile fledges from the nest and learns to fly and forage.
4. 4.
   adult

   Fully grown with adult plumage.

Learn more

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Charadriiformes

Family

Laridae

Genus

Sterna

Species

Sterna forsteri