#0983 · 🐦 birds
Forster's Tern
🇳🇱 Forsters Stern ·Sterna forsteri
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © Bert Filemyr · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 2. © Silas Wareham · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 3. © mwbirdco · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 4. © Kathy Richardson · CC BY 4.0
- 5. © Pete Romfh · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
- 6. © mwbirdco · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 7. © Mary Keim · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
- 8. © Joe MDO · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 9. © Dick Daniels · CC BY-SA 4.0
- 10. © rbbrummitt · CC BY-NC 4.0
what is it?
The Forster's tern ( Sterna forsteri ) is a tern in the family Laridae. The genus name Sterna is derived from Old English "stearn", "tern", and forsteri commemorates the naturalist Johann Reinhold Forster.
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- Spotted 1 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist.
- 36,795 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named by Thomas Nuttall in 1834 (192 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Forster's Tern
- Nederlands
- Forsters Stern
- scientific name
- Sterna forsteri
- class
- Aves
- order
- Charadriiformes
- family
- Laridae
- IUCN Red List
- LC · least concern
- sightings in NL
- 1
- sightings in Europe
- 49
- sightings worldwide
- 36,795
- GBIF records in NL
- 557
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1834 by Thomas Nuttall
IUCN in Dutch: niet bedreigd. Blank means the sources don't say.
relatives· Laridae
#0538 📷 10Black-headed Gull
🇳🇱 Kokmeeuw
Chroicocephalus ridibundus
LC 👀 5k in NL
#0540 📷 9European Herring Gull
🇳🇱 Zilvermeeuw
Larus argentatus
LC 👀 4.4k in NL
#0567 📷 10Lesser Black-backed Gull
🇳🇱 Kleine Mantelmeeuw
Larus fuscus
LC 👀 2.1k in NL
#0573 📷 10Common Tern
🇳🇱 Visdief
Sterna hirundo
LC 👀 1.7k in NL
#0581 📷 10Common Gull
🇳🇱 Stormmeeuw
Larus canus
LC 👀 1.4k in NL
#0613 📷 9Great Black-backed Gull
🇳🇱 Grote Mantelmeeuw
Larus marinus
LC 👀 632 in NL
#0625 📷 9Sandwich Tern
🇳🇱 Grote Stern
Thalasseus sandvicensis
LC 👀 466 in NL
#0648 📷 9Caspian Gull
🇳🇱 Pontische Meeuw
Larus cachinnans
LC 👀 299 in NL
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 4457, Wikidata Q430529, GBIF 5229247, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.