Gulls & Terns in New Mexico
Our list for New Mexico has 11 gulls & terns recorded regularly there: 2 summer visitors, 3 winter visitors, 5 passage migrants and 1 scarce visitor
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in New Mexico in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 11, most common first
Ring-billed GullLarus delawarensisWinter visitorCommon43–54 cmRecorded all year
Franklin's GullLeucophaeus pipixcanPassage migrantUncommon32–36 cmRegularly Mar–Nov
Bonaparte's GullChroicocephalus philadelphiaPassage migrantUncommon28–38 cmRegularly Oct–May
American Herring GullLarus smithsonianusWinter visitorUncommon53–65 cmRegularly Oct–Apr
Black TernChlidonias nigerSummer visitorUncommon22–26 cmRegularly May–Sep
Sabine's GullXema sabiniPassage migrantRare27–33 cmRegularly Sep–Oct
Forster's TernSterna forsteriSummer visitorRare33–36 cmRegularly Apr–Oct
Lesser Black-backed GullLarus fuscusWinter visitorRare52–64 cmRegularly Sep–Apr
Common TernSterna hirundoPassage migrantRare31–35 cmRegularly Aug–Oct
Iceland GullLarus glaucoidesPassage migrantRare52–60 cmRegularly Nov–Jan
KittiwakeRissa tridactylaScarceRare37–41 cm
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
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