Gulls & Terns in Rhode Island
Our list for Rhode Island has 15 gulls & terns recorded regularly there: 3 residents, 2 summer visitors, 5 winter visitors, 3 passage migrants and 2 scarce visitors
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in Rhode Island in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 15, most common first
American Herring GullLarus smithsonianusResidentCommon53–65 cmRecorded all year
Ring-billed GullLarus delawarensisWinter visitorCommon43–54 cmRecorded all year
Great Black-backed GullLarus marinusResidentCommon64–79 cmRecorded all year
Common TernSterna hirundoSummer visitorCommon31–35 cmRegularly May–Sep
Forster's TernSterna forsteriPassage migrantUncommon33–36 cmRegularly Jul–Oct
Bonaparte's GullChroicocephalus philadelphiaResidentUncommon28–38 cmRecorded all year
Roseate TernSterna dougalliiSummer visitorUncommon33–41 cmRegularly May–Sep
Lesser Black-backed GullLarus fuscusWinter visitorUncommon52–64 cmRecorded all year
Black TernChlidonias nigerPassage migrantUncommon22–26 cmRegularly Jul–Sep
Iceland GullLarus glaucoidesWinter visitorUncommon52–60 cmRegularly Nov–Apr
KittiwakeRissa tridactylaWinter visitorUncommon37–41 cmRegularly Oct–Mar
Black-headed GullChroicocephalus ridibundusWinter visitorUncommon38–44 cmRegularly Nov–Apr
Glaucous GullLarus hyperboreusPassage migrantUncommon62–68 cmRegularly Nov–Apr
Little GullHydrocoloeus minutusScarceRare25–30 cm
Gull-billed TernGelochelidon niloticaScarceRare33–42 cm
Smallest to largest
Length, cm- Black Tern 22–26 cm
- Little Gull 25–30 cm
- Common Tern 31–35 cm
- Bonaparte's Gull 28–38 cm
- Forster's Tern 33–36 cm
- Roseate Tern 33–41 cm
- Gull-billed Tern 33–42 cm
- Kittiwake 37–41 cm
- Black-headed Gull 38–44 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