Gulls & Terns in Mississippi
Our list for Mississippi has 13 gulls & terns recorded regularly there: 2 residents, 4 summer visitors, 4 winter visitors and 3 passage migrants
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in Mississippi in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 13, most common first
Ring-billed GullLarus delawarensisWinter visitorCommon43–54 cmRegularly Sep–May
Forster's TernSterna forsteriResidentCommon33–36 cmRecorded all year
American Herring GullLarus smithsonianusWinter visitorCommon53–65 cmRecorded all year
Bonaparte's GullChroicocephalus philadelphiaWinter visitorCommon28–38 cmRegularly Nov–Apr
Black TernChlidonias nigerSummer visitorUncommon22–26 cmRegularly May–Sep
Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensisSummer visitorUncommon36–41 cmRegularly Apr–Oct
Gull-billed TernGelochelidon niloticaSummer visitorUncommon33–42 cmRegularly Apr–Sep
Common TernSterna hirundoSummer visitorUncommon31–35 cmRegularly Apr–Oct
Franklin's GullLeucophaeus pipixcanPassage migrantUncommon32–36 cmRegularly Oct–Jan
Lesser Black-backed GullLarus fuscusWinter visitorUncommon52–64 cmRegularly Aug–Jun
Sabine's GullXema sabiniPassage migrantRare27–33 cmRegularly Sep
Great Black-backed GullLarus marinusResidentRare64–79 cmRegularly Mar
Iceland GullLarus glaucoidesPassage migrantRare52–60 cmRegularly Dec
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
- Iceland Gull 52–60 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