This species, like most terns, feeds on small fish caught near the surface after a hover and a vertical dive from a height of 10-30 feet. They sometimes scoop prey in shallow dives as well. A few insects, crustaceans, and frogs are taken in some areas. Terns roost in the open on exposed pilings, floating boards, dikes, even on rafts of floating vegetation. Nests are simple scrapes or depressions in the ground.
Nests usually occur in colonies at predator resistant sites, such as on islands.
The average clutch is 2-3 eggs, incubation lasts 23 days and is achieved by both parents. Probably only a single brood is reared in any one year. The young can move somewhat at hatching and are fed by the parents in the vicinity of the colony until they can fly. One of our biggest identification challenges is to separate the small terns from each other. Forster's is perhaps the easiest to identify.