Gulls & Terns in Florida
Our list for Florida has 18 gulls & terns recorded regularly there: 4 summer visitors, 7 winter visitors and 7 passage migrants
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in Florida in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 18, most common first
Ring-billed GullLarus delawarensisWinter visitorCommon43–54 cmRegularly Oct–Jul
Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensisSummer visitorCommon36–41 cmRecorded all year
Forster's TernSterna forsteriWinter visitorCommon33–36 cmRecorded all year
American Herring GullLarus smithsonianusWinter visitorUncommon53–65 cmRecorded all year
Black TernChlidonias nigerPassage migrantUncommon22–26 cmRegularly Jun–Sep
Bonaparte's GullChroicocephalus philadelphiaWinter visitorUncommon28–38 cmRegularly Nov–Apr
Lesser Black-backed GullLarus fuscusWinter visitorUncommon52–64 cmRecorded all year
Common TernSterna hirundoSummer visitorUncommon31–35 cmRegularly Mar–Dec
Gull-billed TernGelochelidon niloticaSummer visitorUncommon33–42 cmRegularly Jan–Sep
Great Black-backed GullLarus marinusWinter visitorUncommon64–79 cmRecorded all year
Roseate TernSterna dougalliiSummer visitorRare33–41 cmRegularly Apr–Aug
Franklin's GullLeucophaeus pipixcanPassage migrantRare32–36 cmRegularly Oct–Jan
KittiwakeRissa tridactylaPassage migrantRare37–41 cmRegularly Nov–Apr
Arctic TernSterna paradisaeaPassage migrantRare33–39 cmRegularly Apr–Jun
Sabine's GullXema sabiniPassage migrantRare27–33 cmRegularly Sep–Nov
Iceland GullLarus glaucoidesWinter visitorRare52–60 cmRegularly Dec–Apr
Black-headed GullChroicocephalus ridibundusPassage migrantRare38–44 cmRegularly Jan–Feb
Glaucous GullLarus hyperboreusPassage migrantRare62–68 cmRegularly Dec–Mar
Smallest to largest
Length, cm- Black Tern 22–26 cm
- Sabine's Gull 27–33 cm
- Bonaparte's Gull 28–38 cm
- Common Tern 31–35 cm
- Franklin's Gull 32–36 cm
- Forster's Tern 33–36 cm
- Arctic Tern 33–39 cm
- Roseate Tern 33–41 cm
- Gull-billed Tern 33–42 cm
- Sandwich Tern 36–41 cm
- Kittiwake 37–41 cm
- Black-headed Gull 38–44 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