List of Birds of Tasmania - Gulls and Terns

Gulls and Terns

Order: Charadriiformes. Family: Laridae

Gulls are typically medium to large birds, usually grey or white, often with black markings on the head or wings. They have stout, longish bills, and webbed feet. The large species take up to four years to attain full adult plumage, but two years is typical for small gulls. In Tasmania, three species have been recorded. Terns are in general medium-to-large birds, typically with grey or white plumage, often with black markings on the head. They have longish bills and webbed feet. They are lighter-bodied and more streamlined than gulls, and look elegant in flight with long tails and long narrow wings. In Tasmania, nine species of gulls and terns have been recorded, five of which are vagrants. The two groups have been considered separate families, but some findings that the noddies and White Tern are offshoots to the combined group have led the two to be classified as a single family for the time being.

• Pacific Gull, Larus pacificus
• Kelp Gull, Larus dominicanus
• Silver Gull, Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae
• Bridled Tern, Onychoprion anaetheetus (V)
• Little Tern, Sternula albifrons
• Fairy Tern, Sternula nereis
• Gull-billed Tern, Gelochelidon nilotica (V)
• Caspian Tern, Hydroprogne caspia
• Whiskered Tern, Chlidonias hybridus (V)
• Common Tern, Sterna hirundo (V)
• Arctic Tern, Sterna paradisaea (V)
• Greater Crested Tern, Thalasseus bergii