WhenToBird

Chlidonias niger · Laridae

Black Tern: When and Where to See It

Adult Black Tern
Photo: rober025, CC BY 4.0 via iNaturalist

The Black Tern reaches Minnesota first, around the second week of May, and Tennessee last, around the second week of August.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
today
Second week of November

Each county is shaded by the share of complete checklists there that listed the bird, blended with the weeks either side. Darker is more often. It follows where people watch birds, not how many birds there are. How to read it.

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0%0.5%1%1.5%Jan 1-7: 0% of 1114036 checklistsJan 8-14: 0% of 824708 checklistsJan 15-21: 0.1% of 825978 checklistsJan 22-31: 0.1% of 1105853 checklistsFeb 1-7: 0.1% of 779772 checklistsFeb 8-14: 0.1% of 864504 checklistsFeb 15-21: 0% of 1127933 checklistsFeb 22-28: 0.1% of 840124 checklistsMar 1-7: 0.1% of 839610 checklistsMar 8-14: 0.1% of 870138 checklistsMar 15-21: 0.1% of 898456 checklistsMar 22-31: 0.1% of 1335637 checklistsApr 1-7: 0.1% of 1030617 checklistsApr 8-14: 0.1% of 1124024 checklistsApr 15-21: 0.1% of 1194575 checklistsApr 22-30: 0.2% of 1675723 checklistsMay 1-7: 0.3% of 1449080 checklistsMay 8-14: 0.6% of 1538353 checklistsMay 15-21: 0.9% of 1219898 checklistsMay 22-31: 0.9% of 1452282 checklistsJun 1-7: 0.7% of 900636 checklistsJun 8-14: 0.6% of 829907 checklistsJun 15-21: 0.5% of 773255 checklistsJun 22-30: 0.6% of 916255 checklistsJul 1-7: 0.6% of 717733 checklistsJul 8-14: 0.7% of 658223 checklistsJul 15-21: 0.7% of 638752 checklistsJul 22-31: 0.8% of 895727 checklistsAug 1-7: 0.9% of 655651 checklistsAug 8-14: 1.1% of 650038 checklistsAug 15-21: 1.1% of 654639 checklistsAug 22-31: 0.9% of 974928 checklistsSep 1-7: 0.8% of 765914 checklistsSep 8-14: 0.5% of 738674 checklistsSep 15-21: 0.3% of 750433 checklistsSep 22-30: 0.1% of 944196 checklistsOct 1-7: 0.1% of 760106 checklistsOct 8-14: 0.1% of 793131 checklistsOct 15-21: 0.1% of 728727 checklistsOct 22-31: 0.1% of 959954 checklistsNov 1-7: 0.1% of 709464 checklistsNov 8-14: 0.1% of 693424 checklistsNov 15-21: 0.1% of 653952 checklistsNov 22-30: 0.1% of 871137 checklistsDec 1-7: 0.1% of 627591 checklistsDec 8-14: 0.1% of 642427 checklistsDec 15-21: 0.1% of 775638 checklistsDec 22-31: 0.1% of 1132751 checklistsJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Share of complete checklists reporting it, by week (4 per month). Grey bars: fewer than 10 checklists, not counted.

Pooled across every state in the data, so it leans toward states with the most birders.

States, in order of first arrivals

StatePatternFirst arrivalsPeakMost gone byPeak %
LouisianaSummer visitorApr 22-30Aug 22-31Sep 15-212.8%
North DakotaSummer visitorMay 1-7Jul 22-31Aug 8-1413%
South DakotaSummer visitorMay 1-7Aug 1-7Aug 22-318.2%
NebraskaSummer visitorMay 1-7May 15-21Sep 8-146.2%
IowaSummer visitorMay 1-7May 22-31Jun 22-303.3%
OklahomaSummer visitorMay 1-7May 15-21Jun 1-73.6%
OregonSummer visitorMay 1-7May 22-31Aug 8-141.6%
MinnesotaSummer visitorMay 8-14May 22-31Aug 15-212.8%
WisconsinSummer visitorMay 8-14Jul 8-14Aug 8-143.5%
MichiganSummer visitorMay 8-14Jul 1-7Jul 22-311.4%
MissouriSummer visitorMay 8-14May 15-21Jun 1-71.1%
New YorkSummer visitorMay 8-14Jun 1-7Aug 8-141.1%
AlabamaSummer visitorJun 15-21Aug 1-7Sep 15-212.4%
ArkansasSummer visitorJul 1-7Aug 15-21Sep 8-142.1%
FloridaPasses throughJul 8-14Aug 22-31Sep 8-143.2%
KansasSummer visitorJul 8-14Aug 8-14Sep 8-144.5%
South CarolinaSummer visitorJul 8-14Aug 8-14Sep 8-143.2%
TexasSummer visitorJul 8-14Aug 15-21Sep 15-213.0%
NevadaSummer visitorJul 8-14Aug 1-7Sep 1-71.1%
MississippiPasses throughJul 15-21Aug 22-31Sep 8-145.2%
MassachusettsPasses throughJul 15-21Aug 15-21Sep 8-141.0%
North CarolinaPasses throughJul 15-21Aug 8-14Sep 8-142.3%
ColoradoSummer visitorJul 22-31Sep 1-7Sep 15-211.1%
Rhode IslandPasses throughAug 1-7Aug 15-21Sep 1-73.2%
GeorgiaPasses throughAug 1-7Aug 22-31Sep 8-141.2%
New JerseyPasses throughAug 1-7Aug 15-21Sep 8-141.1%
TennesseePasses throughAug 8-14Aug 22-31Sep 8-142.0%

Summer visitor in: Nebraska, Oklahoma, Missouri, Louisiana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Oregon