Gulls & Terns in Alabama
Our list for Alabama has 14 gulls & terns recorded regularly there: 1 resident, 4 summer visitors, 6 winter visitors, 2 passage migrants and 1 scarce visitor
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in Alabama in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 14, most common first
Ring-billed GullLarus delawarensisWinter visitorCommon43–54 cmRegularly Aug–Apr
American Herring GullLarus smithsonianusWinter visitorUncommon53–65 cmRecorded all year
Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensisSummer visitorUncommon36–41 cmRegularly Mar–Nov
Forster's TernSterna forsteriResidentUncommon33–36 cmRecorded all year
Bonaparte's GullChroicocephalus philadelphiaWinter visitorUncommon28–38 cmRegularly Nov–Apr
Black TernChlidonias nigerSummer visitorUncommon22–26 cmRegularly May–Sep
Gull-billed TernGelochelidon niloticaSummer visitorUncommon33–42 cmRegularly Mar–Sep
Common TernSterna hirundoSummer visitorUncommon31–35 cmRegularly Apr–Oct
Lesser Black-backed GullLarus fuscusWinter visitorRare52–64 cmRegularly Aug–May
Great Black-backed GullLarus marinusWinter visitorRare64–79 cmRegularly Jul–May
Franklin's GullLeucophaeus pipixcanPassage migrantRare32–36 cmRegularly Oct–Dec
Iceland GullLarus glaucoidesPassage migrantRare52–60 cmRegularly Feb
Glaucous GullLarus hyperboreusWinter visitorRare62–68 cmRegularly Dec–Apr
KittiwakeRissa tridactylaScarceRare37–41 cmRegularly Nov
Smallest to largest
Length, cm- Black Tern 22–26 cm
- Bonaparte's Gull 28–38 cm
- Common Tern 31–35 cm
- Franklin's Gull 32–36 cm
- Forster's Tern 33–36 cm
- Gull-billed Tern 33–42 cm
- Sandwich Tern 36–41 cm
- Kittiwake 37–41 cm
- Ring-billed Gull 43–54 cm
- Iceland Gull 52–60 cm
- Lesser Black-backed Gull 52–64 cm
- American Herring Gull 53–65 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