Gulls & Terns in Austria
Our list for Austria has 16 gulls & terns recorded regularly there: 2 residents, 5 summer visitors, 2 winter visitors, 6 passage migrants and 1 scarce visitor
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in Austria in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 16, most common first
Black-headed GullChroicocephalus ridibundusResidentCommon38–44 cmRecorded all year
Yellow-legged GullLarus michahellisResidentCommon52–68 cmRecorded all year
Common GullLarus canusWinter visitorCommon40–46 cmRecorded all year
Common TernSterna hirundoSummer visitorCommon31–35 cmRegularly Apr–Sep
Black TernChlidonias nigerSummer visitorUncommon22–26 cmRegularly Apr–Sep
Mediterranean GullIchthyaetus melanocephalusSummer visitorUncommon37–40 cmRegularly Mar–Sep
Little GullHydrocoloeus minutusSummer visitorUncommon25–30 cmRegularly Apr–Dec
European Herring GullLarus argentatusWinter visitorUncommon55–67 cmRegularly Sep–Feb
White-winged TernChlidonias leucopterusPassage migrantUncommon20–27 cmRegularly May
Lesser Black-backed GullLarus fuscusSummer visitorUncommon52–64 cmRegularly Feb–Dec
KittiwakeRissa tridactylaScarceRare37–41 cmRegularly Nov
Gull-billed TernGelochelidon niloticaPassage migrantRare33–42 cmRegularly May
Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensisPassage migrantRare36–41 cmRegularly May–Sep
Great Black-backed GullLarus marinusPassage migrantRare64–79 cmRegularly Aug–Jan
Arctic TernSterna paradisaeaPassage migrantRare33–39 cmRegularly May
Little TernSternula albifronsPassage migrantRare21–25 cmRegularly Jun
Smallest to largest
Length, cm- Little Tern 21–25 cm
- White-winged Tern 20–27 cm
- Black Tern 22–26 cm
- Little Gull 25–30 cm
- Common Tern 31–35 cm
- Arctic Tern 33–39 cm
- Gull-billed Tern 33–42 cm
- Mediterranean Gull 37–40 cm
- Sandwich Tern 36–41 cm
- Kittiwake 37–41 cm
- Black-headed Gull 38–44 cm
- Common Gull 40–46 cm
- Lesser Black-backed Gull 52–64 cm
- Yellow-legged Gull 52–68 cm
- European Herring Gull 55–67 cm
- Great Black-backed Gull 64–79 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