Gulls & Terns in Iowa
Our list for Iowa has 13 gulls & terns recorded regularly there: 4 summer visitors, 6 winter visitors, 2 passage migrants and 1 scarce visitor
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in Iowa in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 13, most common first
Ring-billed GullLarus delawarensisWinter visitorCommon43–54 cmRegularly Jul–May
Franklin's GullLeucophaeus pipixcanSummer visitorCommon32–36 cmRegularly Apr–Nov
Bonaparte's GullChroicocephalus philadelphiaPassage migrantCommon28–38 cmRegularly Oct–Apr
American Herring GullLarus smithsonianusWinter visitorCommon53–65 cmRegularly Sep–Apr
Forster's TernSterna forsteriSummer visitorUncommon33–36 cmRegularly Apr–Oct
Black TernChlidonias nigerSummer visitorUncommon22–26 cmRegularly May–Sep
Lesser Black-backed GullLarus fuscusWinter visitorUncommon52–64 cmRegularly Sep–Apr
Iceland GullLarus glaucoidesWinter visitorUncommon52–60 cmRegularly Oct–Mar
Glaucous GullLarus hyperboreusWinter visitorUncommon62–68 cmRegularly Nov–Mar
Sabine's GullXema sabiniPassage migrantRare27–33 cmRegularly Sep–Oct
Common TernSterna hirundoSummer visitorRare31–35 cmRegularly May–Oct
KittiwakeRissa tridactylaScarceRare37–41 cm
Great Black-backed GullLarus marinusWinter visitorRare64–79 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
- 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