Gulls & Terns in West Yorkshire
Our list for West Yorkshire has 13 gulls & terns recorded regularly there: 6 residents, 1 summer visitor, 2 winter visitors and 4 passage migrants
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in West Yorkshire in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 13, most common first
Black-headed GullChroicocephalus ridibundusResidentCommon38–44 cmRecorded all year
European Herring GullLarus argentatusResidentCommon55–67 cmRecorded all year
Lesser Black-backed GullLarus fuscusResidentCommon52–64 cmRecorded all year
Common GullLarus canusWinter visitorCommon40–46 cmRegularly Jul–May
Common TernSterna hirundoSummer visitorCommon31–35 cmRegularly Apr–Aug
Great Black-backed GullLarus marinusWinter visitorUncommon64–79 cmRecorded all year
Mediterranean GullIchthyaetus melanocephalusResidentUncommon37–40 cmRegularly Mar–Jul
Black TernChlidonias nigerPassage migrantUncommon22–26 cmRegularly May–Sep
Little GullHydrocoloeus minutusPassage migrantUncommon25–30 cmRegularly Mar–May
Arctic TernSterna paradisaeaPassage migrantRare33–39 cmRegularly Apr–Jul
Yellow-legged GullLarus michahellisResidentRare52–68 cmRegularly Jan–Sep
Iceland GullLarus glaucoidesPassage migrantRare52–60 cmRegularly Jan
KittiwakeRissa tridactylaResidentRare37–41 cmRegularly Mar–Apr
Smallest to largest
Length, 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
- 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