Gull-billed tern
Gelochelidon nilotica (J. F. Gmelin, 1789)
The gull-billed tern (Gelochelidon nilotica), also called the Marsh tern or Common gull-billed tern, is a bird in the family Laridae and the order Charadriiformes. It is a small, migratory bird of coastal habitats with an aerial lifestyle, weighing 218.2 g with a wingspan of 94 cm.
Quick facts about the gull-billed tern
Its diet category is omnivore and its trophic level is carnivore; it lays 3 eggs per clutch, one clutch per year, with an incubation period of 22.25 days. The species is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category, and checklists record it in Australia.
- Weight
- 218.2 g – 235 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 94 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 15.8 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Omnivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 16 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- coastalsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 22.3 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 4.99 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Aerialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- 1 countrysrc for Countries on record
How big is the gull-billed tern?
Photos of the gull-billed tern
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the gull-billed tern live?
Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.
The gull-billed tern is listed for 1 country.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.
What is the gull-billed tern?
The gull-billed tern (Gelochelidon nilotica) is a tern in the family Laridae. It is widely distributed and breeds in scattered localities in Europe, Asia, northwest Africa, and the Americas. The Australian gull-billed tern was previously considered a subspecies.
From the Wikipedia article “Gull-billed tern” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gull-billed_tern&oldid=1373988421), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the gull-billed tern sound like?
Is the gull-billed tern endangered?
The gull-billed tern is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the gull-billed tern classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderCharadriiformes
- familyLaridae
- genusGelochelidon
- SpeciesGelochelidon nilotica (J. F. Gmelin, 1789)
Synonyms Gelochelidon meridionalis, Larus nilotica, Sterna anglica, Sterna palustris
Other names and names in other languages (110)
- Common gull-billed ternEnglish
- Marsh ternEnglish
- Oostelike SeeswaelAfrikaans
- Oostelike Seeswael (Oostelike Sterretjie)Afrikaans
- خرشنة نيليةArabic
- الخرشنة نورسية المنقارArabic
- خرشنة نورسية المنقارArabic
- Gabiotín de bieco negroAragonese
- Chirri PicuprietuAsturian
- garrochín picuprietuAsturian
- Qağayıbaş susüpürənAzerbaijani
- Керелдәк сарлаҡBashkir
- Чайканосая крычкаBelarusian
- Дебелоклюна рибаркаBulgarian
- কালাঠোঁট পানচিলBangla
- Skrav beg tevBreton
- currocCatalan
- rybák černozobýCzech
- Morwennol ylfinbraffWelsh
- môr-wennol ylfinbraffWelsh
- Môr-Wenoliaid GylfinbraffWelsh
- sandterneDanish
- LachseeschwalbeGerman
- Kanifulhu DhooniDivehi
- ΓελογλάρονοGreek
- Mevbeka sternoEsperanto
- mevbeka ŝternoEsperanto
- Pagaza piconegraSpanish
- Charrán pico gruesoSpanish
- Charrán piquicortoSpanish
- Charrán PiquigruesoSpanish
- Charrán PiquinegroSpanish
- Gaviota Pico CortoSpanish
- Gaviotín pico gruesoSpanish
- naerutiirEstonian
- Txenada mokobeltzBasque
- پرستو دریایی نوک کاکاییPersian
- hietatiiraFinnish
- SandternaFaroese
- Sterne hanselFrench
- Geabhróg ghobdhubhIrish
- Sternag ghob-dooScottish Gaelic
- Carrán de bico curtoGalician
- AtîGuarani
- Fou bèk nwaHaitian Creole
- שחפית עבת-מקורHebrew
- Kadal kuruviHindi
- Debelokljuna CigraCroatian
- kacagócsérHungarian
- Ջրածիծառ որորակտուցArmenian
- Dara-laut tiramIndonesian
- Burung Dara-laut Paruh LebarIndonesian
- SandþernaIcelandic
- SandßernaIcelandic
- sterna zampenereItalian
- ハシブトアジサシJapanese
- Қаратұмсық қарқылдақKazakh
- 큰부리제비갈매기Korean
- LaachséischmuewelLuxembourgish
- kirasnapė žuvėdraLithuanian
- kāpu zīriņšLatvian
- TrobakamaintivavaMalagasy
- дебелоклуна рибаркаMacedonian
- Галебоклуна морска рибаркаMacedonian
- പാത്തക്കൊക്കൻ ആളMalayalam
- പാത്തക്കൊക്കന് ആളMalayalam
- Ċirlewwa Geddumha OħxonMaltese
- Бахим амуулай - ᠪᠠᠬᠢᠮ ᠠᠮᠣᠯᠠᠢMongolian
- Burung Camar TiramMalay
- lachsternDutch
- Meuchi NilótikoPapiamento
- Sternchi HaridoPapiamento
- Stèrnchi NilótikoPapiamento
- rybitwa krótkodziobaPolish
- گل دی چنج آلی ٹرنWestern Panjabi
- tagazPortuguese
- ChagazPortuguese
- Gaivina-de-bico-pretoPortuguese
- tagaz-comumPortuguese
- trinta-réis-de-bico-pretoPortuguese
- Pestgarel chomma nairaRomansh
- Pescăriţă râzătoareRomanian
- Pescăriță râzătoareRomanian
- крачка белощекаяRussian
- Чайконосая крачкаRussian
- черноносая крачкаRussian
- или крячок мартиноносыйRussian
- SáttočearretNorthern Sami
- rybárka krátkozobáSlovak
- Crnonoga cigraSlovenian
- črnonoga čigraSlovenian
- Dallëndyshe deti këmbëzezëAlbanian
- dallëndyshja sqeptrashë e detitAlbanian
- Debelokljuna čigraSerbian
- Дебелокљуна чиграSerbian
- debelokljuna cigra - Дебелоклјуна чиграSerbian
- sandtärnaSwedish
- Shakwe Domo-neneSwahili
- Parutha Alagu AalaTamil
- นกนางนวลแกลบปากหนาThai
- gulen sumruTurkish
- gülen sumruTurkish
- Гензель крячкаUkrainian
- Крячок мартиноносийUkrainian
- Крячок нілотікаUkrainian
- Крячок чорнодзьобийUkrainian
- Чорнодзьобий крячокUkrainian
- Chim Nhàn chân đenVietnamese
- 鷗嘴燕鷗Chinese
- 鸥嘴噪鸥Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the gull-billed tern
Other species in the same genus Gelochelidon.
Australian tern
Gelochelidon macrotarsa
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the gull-billed tern?
The gull-billed tern is a bird in the family Laridae, order Charadriiformes. It is a small, migratory species.
How heavy is the gull-billed tern?
An adult Gull-billed tern weighs 218.2 g, with a highest reported value of 235 g. Its wingspan is 94 cm.
What does the gull-billed tern eat?
The gull-billed tern is classed as an omnivore by diet category, with a trophic level of carnivore.
Is the gull-billed tern endangered?
No. The gull-billed tern is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does the gull-billed tern live?
The gull-billed tern has a lifespan of 15.75 years, with a highest reported value of 16 years.
How many eggs does the gull-billed tern lay?
The gull-billed tern lays 3 eggs per clutch and has 1 clutch per year. The eggs are incubated for 22.25 days.
Which countries is the gull-billed tern recorded in?
Checklists record the gull-billed tern in Australia. Its habitat is coastal.
Who named the gull-billed tern?
The scientific name Gelochelidon nilotica is credited to (J. F. Gmelin, 1789).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Gull-billed tern (Gelochelidon nilotica). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/gull-billed-tern
“Gull-billed tern (Gelochelidon nilotica).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/gull-billed-tern.
@misc{gull_billed_tern_2026,
title = {Gull-billed tern (Gelochelidon nilotica)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/gull-billed-tern},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}