Gulls & Terns in Switzerland
Our list for Switzerland has 17 gulls & terns recorded regularly there: 4 residents, 3 summer visitors, 4 winter visitors, 5 passage migrants and 1 scarce visitor
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in Switzerland in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 17, most common first
Black-headed GullChroicocephalus ridibundusResidentCommon38–44 cmRecorded all year
Yellow-legged GullLarus michahellisResidentCommon52–68 cmRecorded all year
Common GullLarus canusWinter visitorCommon40–46 cmRegularly Nov–Apr
Common TernSterna hirundoSummer visitorCommon31–35 cmRegularly Apr–Sep
Mediterranean GullIchthyaetus melanocephalusResidentUncommon37–40 cmRecorded all year
European Herring GullLarus argentatusWinter visitorUncommon55–67 cmRegularly Sep–Apr
Black TernChlidonias nigerSummer visitorUncommon22–26 cmRegularly Apr–Oct
Lesser Black-backed GullLarus fuscusResidentUncommon52–64 cmRecorded all year
Little GullHydrocoloeus minutusWinter visitorUncommon25–30 cmRegularly Apr–Feb
Great Black-backed GullLarus marinusWinter visitorUncommon64–79 cmRegularly Nov–Feb
White-winged TernChlidonias leucopterusPassage migrantRare20–27 cmRegularly May–Sep
KittiwakeRissa tridactylaPassage migrantRare37–41 cmRegularly Nov
Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensisPassage migrantRare36–41 cmRegularly May–Aug
Arctic TernSterna paradisaeaSummer visitorRare33–39 cmRegularly May–Jul
Gull-billed TernGelochelidon niloticaPassage migrantRare33–42 cmRegularly May–Jun
Audouin's GullIchthyaetus audouiniiScarceRare48–52 cmRegularly May
Little TernSternula albifronsPassage migrantRare21–25 cmRegularly May–Jul
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
- Audouin's Gull 48–52 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