Gulls & Terns in Georgia
Our list for Georgia has 12 gulls & terns recorded regularly there: 3 summer visitors, 6 winter visitors, 2 passage migrants and 1 scarce visitor
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in Georgia in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 12, most common first
Ring-billed GullLarus delawarensisWinter visitorCommon43–54 cmRecorded all year
Forster's TernSterna forsteriWinter visitorUncommon33–36 cmRecorded all year
American Herring GullLarus smithsonianusWinter visitorUncommon53–65 cmRecorded all year
Bonaparte's GullChroicocephalus philadelphiaWinter visitorUncommon28–38 cmRegularly Nov–Apr
Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensisSummer visitorUncommon36–41 cmRegularly Mar–Dec
Lesser Black-backed GullLarus fuscusWinter visitorUncommon52–64 cmRecorded all year
Black TernChlidonias nigerPassage migrantUncommon22–26 cmRegularly Jun–Sep
Common TernSterna hirundoSummer visitorUncommon31–35 cmRegularly Apr–Oct
Gull-billed TernGelochelidon niloticaSummer visitorUncommon33–42 cmRegularly Apr–Oct
Great Black-backed GullLarus marinusWinter visitorRare64–79 cmRecorded all year
Franklin's GullLeucophaeus pipixcanPassage migrantRare32–36 cmRegularly Oct–Nov
Sabine's GullXema sabiniScarceRare27–33 cmRegularly Sep
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
- Gull-billed Tern 33–42 cm
- Sandwich Tern 36–41 cm
- Ring-billed Gull 43–54 cm
- Lesser Black-backed Gull 52–64 cm
- American Herring Gull 53–65 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