Gulls & Terns in Orkney Islands
Our list for Orkney Islands has 13 gulls & terns recorded regularly there: 4 residents, 7 summer visitors, 1 passage migrant and 1 scarce visitor
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in Orkney Islands 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
Common GullLarus canusResidentCommon40–46 cmRecorded all year
Great Black-backed GullLarus marinusResidentCommon64–79 cmRecorded all year
Arctic TernSterna paradisaeaSummer visitorCommon33–39 cmRegularly May–Sep
Lesser Black-backed GullLarus fuscusSummer visitorCommon52–64 cmRegularly Mar–Sep
KittiwakeRissa tridactylaSummer visitorCommon37–41 cmRegularly Feb–Nov
Common TernSterna hirundoSummer visitorCommon31–35 cmRegularly Apr–Sep
Iceland GullLarus glaucoidesScarceUncommon52–60 cm
Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensisSummer visitorUncommon36–41 cmRegularly Apr–Oct
Little TernSternula albifronsSummer visitorUncommon21–25 cmRegularly May–Aug
Glaucous GullLarus hyperboreusSummer visitorUncommon62–68 cmRegularly May–Oct
Little GullHydrocoloeus minutusPassage migrantRare25–30 cmRegularly May–Sep
Smallest to largest
Length, cm- Little Tern 21–25 cm
- Little Gull 25–30 cm
- Common Tern 31–35 cm
- Arctic Tern 33–39 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
- European Herring Gull 55–67 cm
- Glaucous Gull 62–68 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