Gulls & Terns in British Columbia
Our list for British Columbia has 13 gulls & terns recorded regularly there: 1 resident, 6 summer visitors, 3 winter visitors and 3 passage migrants
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in British Columbia in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 13, most common first
Ring-billed GullLarus delawarensisResidentCommon43–54 cmRecorded all year
Bonaparte's GullChroicocephalus philadelphiaSummer visitorUncommon28–38 cmRecorded all year
Iceland GullLarus glaucoidesWinter visitorUncommon52–60 cmRegularly Sep–Apr
American Herring GullLarus smithsonianusWinter visitorUncommon53–65 cmRecorded all year
KittiwakeRissa tridactylaPassage migrantRare37–41 cmRegularly Jul–Apr
Sabine's GullXema sabiniPassage migrantRare27–33 cmRegularly May–Oct
Franklin's GullLeucophaeus pipixcanSummer visitorRare32–36 cmRegularly May–Nov
Common TernSterna hirundoSummer visitorRare31–35 cmRegularly Apr–Oct
Glaucous GullLarus hyperboreusWinter visitorRare62–68 cmRegularly Oct–Apr
Black TernChlidonias nigerSummer visitorRare22–26 cmRegularly May–Aug
Arctic TernSterna paradisaeaSummer visitorRare33–39 cmRegularly May–Sep
Forster's TernSterna forsteriSummer visitorRare33–36 cmRegularly May–Sep
Lesser Black-backed GullLarus fuscusPassage migrantRare52–64 cmRegularly Sep–Nov
Smallest to largest
Length, cm- Black Tern 22–26 cm
- Sabine's Gull 27–33 cm
- Bonaparte's Gull 28–38 cm
- Common Tern 31–35 cm
- Franklin's Gull 32–36 cm
- Forster's Tern 33–36 cm
- Arctic Tern 33–39 cm
- Kittiwake 37–41 cm
- Ring-billed Gull 43–54 cm
- Iceland Gull 52–60 cm
- Lesser Black-backed Gull 52–64 cm
- American Herring Gull 53–65 cm
- Glaucous Gull 62–68 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