Gulls & Terns in South Dakota
Our list for South Dakota has 14 gulls & terns recorded regularly there: 3 residents, 4 summer visitors, 5 winter visitors and 2 passage migrants
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in South Dakota in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 14, most common first
Ring-billed GullLarus delawarensisWinter visitorCommon43–54 cmRecorded all year
Franklin's GullLeucophaeus pipixcanSummer visitorCommon32–36 cmRegularly Mar–Jan
American Herring GullLarus smithsonianusWinter visitorCommon53–65 cmRegularly Oct–Apr
Black TernChlidonias nigerSummer visitorCommon22–26 cmRegularly May–Sep
Bonaparte's GullChroicocephalus philadelphiaPassage migrantCommon28–38 cmRegularly Sep–Apr
Forster's TernSterna forsteriSummer visitorUncommon33–36 cmRegularly Apr–Oct
Iceland GullLarus glaucoidesWinter visitorUncommon52–60 cmRegularly Oct–Apr
Lesser Black-backed GullLarus fuscusWinter visitorUncommon52–64 cmRegularly Sep–Apr
KittiwakeRissa tridactylaResidentUncommon37–41 cmRegularly Nov
Glaucous GullLarus hyperboreusWinter visitorUncommon62–68 cmRegularly Dec–Apr
Sabine's GullXema sabiniPassage migrantUncommon27–33 cmRegularly Sep
Common TernSterna hirundoSummer visitorRare31–35 cmRegularly Apr–Sep
Little GullHydrocoloeus minutusResidentRare25–30 cmRegularly Sep
Great Black-backed GullLarus marinusResidentRare64–79 cmRegularly Apr
Smallest to largest
Length, cm- Black Tern 22–26 cm
- Little Gull 25–30 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
- 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