Where to see
Sterna forsteri
Padre Island National Seashore leads · 5 parks ranked by real sighting rates
Share of wildlife watchers reporting a Forster's Tern during a day in the park, from citizen-science data (GBIF)
| # | Park | Country | Sighting |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Padre Island National Seashore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 4 | El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 5 | Channel Islands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
Padre Island National Seashore
In Padre Island National Seashore, United States, about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Forster's Tern sighting on a given day, the highest of the 5 parks where we can rate it, from GBIF citizen-science data.
Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and more
After Padre Island National Seashore, the next-best odds of seeing a Forster's Tern are in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (United States, about 30%), Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve (Mexico, about 30%) and El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve (Mexico, about 20%).
It depends on the park
In the top parks, the best months are September in Padre Island National Seashore (about 80%), January in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (about 50%) and February in Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve (about 50%), as the share of wildlife watchers who report a Forster's Tern on a given day. Each park's Forster's Tern page has the full month-by-month chart.
