Page 108 - Play Coastal Mississippi - Spring & Summer, 2026

GOLF & OUTDOORS
in the sand
SHARING THE SHORE WITH THE LEAST TERN
A NURSERY
Story by Cherie Ward
Photos courtesy of Audubon Delta – Mississippi
If you’ve ever walked any of Coastal Mississippi’s beaches and thought, How does something so small survive out here?— Congratulations. You’ve already met the least tern, even if you didn’t know it.
Clocking in at just over nine inches long and weighing about as much as an LED lightbulb (yes, really), the least tern is the smallest species of tern in North America. But don’t let the size fool you. These birds travel thousands of miles from Central and South America every spring, arriving on the Gulf Coast by late March with one goal in mind—raising the next generation— right there in the sand.
No nest. No cushion. No margin for error.
Least Terns are beach-nesting birds, which means they lay their eggs directly on the sand in shallow depressions called scrapes. The eggs are tiny. The chicks are even tinier. And their camouflage? Downright impressive—perfectly designed to fool predators... and unfortunately, people too! That’s the tricky part.
Coastal Mississippi hosts the largest population of Least Terns, making the Coast beaches one of the most important breeding grounds in the country. Breeding season runs from April through August, and during that time, every step, every unleashed dog, every stray fishing line matters more than most people realize.
When least terns feel threatened, they don’t fight—they flee.
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