Editing Forster's tern (section)

===Reproduction===

The breeding season for Forster's tern can start as early as April on the Gulf Coast of the United States and extend from May to mid-June depending on latitude.<ref name="ARKive" /> Forster's tern is a colonial nester with colony size ranging from one to a thousand nests.<ref name="McNicholl71" /> Adults establish a very small territory around the nest and nests are usually clumped together.<ref name="ARKive" /><ref name="McNicholl71" /><ref name="McNicholl82" /> Males will practice courtship feeding and females will beg for food using a kerr kerr kerr call.<ref name="ARKive" /><ref name="Fraser" />

A typical clutch of eggs ranges from two to four.<ref name="Dakin" >Dakin RE. 2000. Nest site selection by Forster's terns (Sterna forsteri). Master's Theses. San Jose State University.
http://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2980&context=etd_theses/></ref> The incubation period may last 24 or 25 days after laying.<ref name="Dakin" /><ref name="McNicholl83" >McNicholl, MK. 1983. Hatching of Forster's Terns. The Condor. 85(1): 50–52.</ref> The young are [[precocial|semi-precocial]] with shell removal being done by the parents.<ref name="McNicholl71" /> The chicks have upper- and lower-mandible egg teeth, which they lose three to five days after hatching.<ref name="McNicholl83" /> The chicks usually leave the nest with the parents four days post hatching and move into areas of denser vegetation.<ref name="Hall" /><ref name="Dakin" /> Fledging occurs 28 days after hatching.<ref name="Dakin" /> After a few weeks of fledging, young terns leave the natal colony but join the group for roosting, while migrating towards the wintering ground.<ref name="ARKive" /><ref>Ackerman JT, Bluso-Demers JD and Takekawa JY. 2009. Postfledging Forster's tern movements, habitat selection, and colony attendance in San Francisco Bay. The Condor. 111(1): 100–110.</ref>

There is a similar involvement from both male and female in incubation and chick rearing. Males tend to incubate the eggs diurnally and females, mostly nocturnally.<ref name="Bluso10" /> Reproductive success varies from year to year and from colony to colony.<ref name="McNicholl82" />