Gulls & Terns in South Ayrshire
Our list for South Ayrshire has 11 gulls & terns recorded regularly there: 2 residents, 2 summer visitors, 4 winter visitors and 3 passage migrants
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in South Ayrshire in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 11, most common first
European Herring GullLarus argentatusResidentCommon55–67 cmRecorded all year
Lesser Black-backed GullLarus fuscusSummer visitorCommon52–64 cmRecorded all year
Black-headed GullChroicocephalus ridibundusWinter visitorCommon38–44 cmRegularly Jun–Mar
Common GullLarus canusWinter visitorCommon40–46 cmRecorded all year
Great Black-backed GullLarus marinusResidentCommon64–79 cmRecorded all year
Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensisSummer visitorUncommon36–41 cmRegularly Apr–Oct
Mediterranean GullIchthyaetus melanocephalusWinter visitorUncommon37–40 cmRegularly Jun–Feb
Arctic TernSterna paradisaeaPassage migrantUncommon33–39 cmRegularly Jun–Aug
KittiwakeRissa tridactylaWinter visitorUncommon37–41 cmRegularly Aug–Jun
Common TernSterna hirundoPassage migrantRare31–35 cmRegularly Jul–Aug
Iceland GullLarus glaucoidesPassage migrantRare52–60 cmRegularly Apr
Smallest to largest
Length, cm- Common Tern 31–35 cm
- Arctic Tern 33–39 cm
- Sandwich Tern 36–41 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
- 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