FIRST SOOTY TERN NEST IN THE CONTIGUOUS WESTERN UNITED STATES

Abstract

During regular surveys of tern colonies at the Western Salt Works in southern San Diego Bay, John Konecny and I discovered a single Sooty Tern (Sterna fuscata) nest with one egg on or like on 3 June 1997. This constitutes the first nesting record of this species for California and for the mainland western United States. The nest was preceded by a spate of sightings at this location starting in 1996.