Gulls & Terns in Staffordshire
Our list for Staffordshire has 15 gulls & terns recorded regularly there: 3 residents, 2 summer visitors, 3 winter visitors, 4 passage migrants and 3 scarce visitors
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in Staffordshire in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 15, most common first
Black-headed GullChroicocephalus ridibundusResidentCommon38–44 cmRecorded all year
Lesser Black-backed GullLarus fuscusResidentCommon52–64 cmRecorded all year
European Herring GullLarus argentatusResidentCommon55–67 cmRecorded all year
Common TernSterna hirundoSummer visitorCommon31–35 cmRegularly Apr–Sep
Common GullLarus canusWinter visitorUncommon40–46 cmRecorded all year
Great Black-backed GullLarus marinusWinter visitorUncommon64–79 cmRegularly Jun–Apr
Yellow-legged GullLarus michahellisWinter visitorUncommon52–68 cmRegularly Jul–May
Little GullHydrocoloeus minutusPassage migrantUncommon25–30 cmRegularly Apr–May
Arctic TernSterna paradisaeaPassage migrantUncommon33–39 cmRegularly Apr–May
Black TernChlidonias nigerPassage migrantUncommon22–26 cmRegularly May–Aug
Mediterranean GullIchthyaetus melanocephalusSummer visitorUncommon37–40 cmRegularly Feb–Sep
Iceland GullLarus glaucoidesPassage migrantRare52–60 cmRegularly Jan–Feb
KittiwakeRissa tridactylaScarceRare37–41 cm
Little TernSternula albifronsScarceRare21–25 cm
Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensisScarceRare36–41 cmRegularly Apr
Smallest to largest
Length, cm- Little Tern 21–25 cm
- Black Tern 22–26 cm
- Little Gull 25–30 cm
- Common Tern 31–35 cm
- Arctic Tern 33–39 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
- Iceland Gull 52–60 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