Gulls & Terns in Tennessee
Our list for Tennessee has 12 gulls & terns recorded regularly there: 1 resident, 6 winter visitors, 4 passage migrants and 1 scarce visitor
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in Tennessee 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–Apr
Bonaparte's GullChroicocephalus philadelphiaWinter visitorCommon28–38 cmRegularly Oct–Apr
American Herring GullLarus smithsonianusWinter visitorUncommon53–65 cmRegularly Sep–Apr
Black TernChlidonias nigerPassage migrantUncommon22–26 cmRegularly May–Sep
Forster's TernSterna forsteriWinter visitorUncommon33–36 cmRegularly Jul–May
Franklin's GullLeucophaeus pipixcanPassage migrantRare32–36 cmRegularly Jun–Dec
Lesser Black-backed GullLarus fuscusWinter visitorRare52–64 cmRegularly Aug–Apr
Common TernSterna hirundoPassage migrantRare31–35 cmRegularly May–Oct
KittiwakeRissa tridactylaScarceRare37–41 cm
Little GullHydrocoloeus minutusResidentRare25–30 cmRegularly Jan
Sabine's GullXema sabiniPassage migrantRare27–33 cmRegularly Sep
Iceland GullLarus glaucoidesWinter visitorRare52–60 cmRegularly Nov–Feb
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
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