Gulls & Terns in Louisiana
Our list for Louisiana has 12 gulls & terns recorded regularly there: 3 residents, 4 summer visitors, 3 winter visitors and 2 passage migrants
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in Louisiana in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 12, most common first
Ring-billed GullLarus delawarensisWinter visitorCommon43–54 cmRegularly Sep–May
Forster's TernSterna forsteriResidentCommon33–36 cmRecorded all year
Black TernChlidonias nigerSummer visitorUncommon22–26 cmRegularly Apr–Sep
Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensisSummer visitorUncommon36–41 cmRegularly Mar–Oct
American Herring GullLarus smithsonianusResidentUncommon53–65 cmRecorded all year
Gull-billed TernGelochelidon niloticaSummer visitorUncommon33–42 cmRecorded all year
Bonaparte's GullChroicocephalus philadelphiaWinter visitorUncommon28–38 cmRegularly Nov–Apr
Common TernSterna hirundoSummer visitorUncommon31–35 cmRegularly Mar–Nov
Lesser Black-backed GullLarus fuscusWinter visitorUncommon52–64 cmRecorded all year
Franklin's GullLeucophaeus pipixcanPassage migrantUncommon32–36 cmRegularly Oct–May
Glaucous GullLarus hyperboreusResidentRare62–68 cmRegularly Apr
Iceland GullLarus glaucoidesPassage migrantRare52–60 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
- 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
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