Gulls & Terns in Washington
Our list for Washington has 15 gulls & terns recorded regularly there: 1 resident, 3 summer visitors, 6 winter visitors, 4 passage migrants and 1 scarce visitor
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in Washington in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 15, most common first
Ring-billed GullLarus delawarensisResidentCommon43–54 cmRecorded all year
Bonaparte's GullChroicocephalus philadelphiaWinter visitorUncommon28–38 cmRecorded all year
American Herring GullLarus smithsonianusWinter visitorUncommon53–65 cmRegularly Aug–May
Sabine's GullXema sabiniPassage migrantUncommon27–33 cmRegularly May–Oct
Iceland GullLarus glaucoidesWinter visitorUncommon52–60 cmRegularly Sep–Apr
Common TernSterna hirundoPassage migrantUncommon31–35 cmRegularly May–Sep
Arctic TernSterna paradisaeaPassage migrantUncommon33–39 cmRegularly May–Sep
KittiwakeRissa tridactylaWinter visitorRare37–41 cmRegularly Sep–Jul
Forster's TernSterna forsteriSummer visitorRare33–36 cmRegularly Apr–Sep
Franklin's GullLeucophaeus pipixcanSummer visitorRare32–36 cmRegularly May–Dec
Black TernChlidonias nigerSummer visitorRare22–26 cmRegularly May–Aug
Glaucous GullLarus hyperboreusWinter visitorRare62–68 cmRegularly Nov–Apr
Lesser Black-backed GullLarus fuscusWinter visitorRare52–64 cmRegularly Aug–Mar
Black-headed GullChroicocephalus ridibundusPassage migrantRare38–44 cmRegularly Apr
Little GullHydrocoloeus minutusScarceRare25–30 cm
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
- Arctic Tern 33–39 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
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