List of Birds of Panama - Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers

Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers

Order: Charadriiformes. Family: Laridae

Laridae is a family of medium to large birds seabirds and includes gulls, kittiwakes, terns, and skimmers. They are typically grey or white, often with black markings on the head or wings. They have longish bills and webbed feet. Terns are a group of generally general medium to large sea-birds typically with grey or white plumage, often with black markings on the head. Most terns hunt fish by diving but some pick insects off the surface of fresh water. Terns are generally long-lived birds, with several species now known to live in excess of 25 to 30 years. Skimmers are a small family of tropical tern-like birds. They have an elongated lower mandible which they use to feed by flying low over the water surface and skimming the water for small fish.

  • Belcher's Gull Larus belcheri (A)
  • Ring-billed Gull Larus delawarensis
  • Kelp Gull Larus dominicanus (A)
  • Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus (A)
  • Herring Gull Larus argentatus
  • Gray-headed Gull Chroicocephalus cirrocephalus (A)
  • Bonaparte's Gull Chroicocephalus philadelphia (A)
  • Gray Gull Leucophaeus modestus (A)
  • Laughing Gull Leucophaeus atricilla
  • Franklin's Gull Leucophaeus pipixcan
  • Sabine's Gull Xema sabini
  • Swallow-tailed Gull Creagrus furcatus (A)
  • Gull-billed Tern Gelochelidon nilotica
  • Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia
  • Elegant Tern Thalasseus elegans
  • Sandwich Tern Thalasseus sandvicensis
  • Royal Tern Thalasseus maxima
  • Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea (A)
  • Common Tern Sterna hirundo
  • Forster's Tern Sterna forsteri (A)
  • Least Tern Sternula antillarum
  • Yellow-billed Tern Sternula superciliaris (A)
  • Onychoprion Tern Sterna anaethetus
  • Onychoprion Tern Sterna fuscata
  • Black Tern Chlidonias niger
  • Large-billed Tern Phaetusa simplex (A)
  • Brown Noddy Anous stolidus
  • Black Noddy Anous minutus (A)
  • White Tern Gygis alba (A)
  • Inca Tern Larosterna inca (A)
  • Black Skimmer Rynchops niger (A)

Read more about this topic:  List Of Birds Of Panama