Gulls & Terns in Oklahoma
Our list for Oklahoma has 12 gulls & terns recorded regularly there: 2 residents, 1 summer visitor, 5 winter visitors, 3 passage migrants and 1 scarce visitor
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in Oklahoma in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 12, most common first
Ring-billed GullLarus delawarensisWinter visitorCommon43–54 cmRegularly Aug–May
Franklin's GullLeucophaeus pipixcanPassage migrantCommon32–36 cmRegularly Mar–Dec
Bonaparte's GullChroicocephalus philadelphiaWinter visitorCommon28–38 cmRegularly Oct–Apr
American Herring GullLarus smithsonianusWinter visitorCommon53–65 cmRegularly Oct–Mar
Forster's TernSterna forsteriResidentUncommon33–36 cmRecorded all year
Black TernChlidonias nigerSummer visitorUncommon22–26 cmRegularly May–Sep
Lesser Black-backed GullLarus fuscusWinter visitorUncommon52–64 cmRegularly Sep–Mar
Sabine's GullXema sabiniPassage migrantUncommon27–33 cmRegularly Sep–Oct
Common TernSterna hirundoPassage migrantRare31–35 cmRegularly Sep–Oct
Arctic TernSterna paradisaeaScarceRare33–39 cm
Iceland GullLarus glaucoidesWinter visitorRare52–60 cmRegularly Nov–Feb
Glaucous GullLarus hyperboreusResidentRare62–68 cmRegularly Jan–Feb
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
- Arctic Tern 33–39 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