Gulls & Terns in Australia
Our list for Australia has 8 gulls & terns recorded regularly there: 2 residents, 3 summer visitors, 1 winter visitor, 1 passage migrant and 1 scarce visitor
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in Australia in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 8, most common first
Little TernSternula albifronsSummer visitorUncommon21–25 cmRecorded all year
Common TernSterna hirundoSummer visitorUncommon31–35 cmRecorded all year
White-winged TernChlidonias leucopterusSummer visitorRare20–27 cmRegularly Sep–May
Gull-billed TernGelochelidon niloticaResidentRare33–42 cmRecorded all year
Roseate TernSterna dougalliiResidentRare33–41 cmRecorded all year
Lesser NoddyAnous tenuirostrisPassage migrantRare30–34 cmRegularly Aug–May
Arctic TernSterna paradisaeaWinter visitorRare33–39 cmRegularly May–Aug
Franklin's GullLeucophaeus pipixcanScarceRare32–36 cm
Smallest to largest
Length, cm- Little Tern 21–25 cm
- White-winged Tern 20–27 cm
- Lesser Noddy 30–34 cm
- Common Tern 31–35 cm
- Franklin's Gull 32–36 cm
- Arctic Tern 33–39 cm
- Roseate Tern 33–41 cm
- Gull-billed Tern 33–42 cm
Body length, bill to tail. Rare birds in grey.
Data: EOD – eBird Observation Dataset (Cornell Lab of Ornithology), accessed via GBIF.org, CC BY 4.0. Records from 2019–2024, aggregated and filtered by Birdfact. How these lists are made