Gulls, Terns, Jaegers, Skuas

Family Laridae

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A Field Guide to Eastern Birds. by Roger Tory Peterson.

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The Gulls and Terns (famiy Laridae) are a large and diverse family of birds found around the world, both on land and over the oceans. The species are all aquatic, to one degree or another, although many species spend the majority of their lives on land. In contrast some species are pelagic spending almost all of their lives over the open ocean except during the breeding season. All species have webbed feet. Most species feed on small fish and aquatic invertebrates, although some species are also scavangers feeding on carrion and garbage. The jaegers and skuas are predators on other birds. Jaegers and Skuas are easily mistaken for the so-called "tubenose" seabirds. However they lack the specialized structures at the base of the bill for the excretion of salts typical of this group. The Laridae consists of 129 species worldwide. Thiry-four species breed in eastern North America.

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Names Arranged Alphabetically by Genus and Species

Black Noddy (Anous minutus)

Brown Noddy (Anous stolidus)

Great Skua (Catharacta skua)

Black Tern (Chlidonias niger)

Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)

Laughing Gull (Larus atricilla)

Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)

Lesser Black-headed Gull (Larus fuscus)

Iceland Gull (Larus glaucoides)

Glaucous Gull (Larus hyperboreus)

Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus)

Little Gull (Larus minutus)

Bonaparte's Gull (Larus philadelphia)

Franklin's Gull (Larus pipixcan)

Common Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus)

Thayer's Gull (Larus thayeri)

Ivory Gull (Pagophila eburnea)

Ross' Gull (Rhodostethia rosea)

Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger)

Black-legged Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla)

Long-tailed Jaeger (Stercorarius longicaudus)

Parasitic Jaeger (Stercorarius parasiticus)

Pomarine Jaeger (Stercorarius pomarinus)

Bridled Tern (Sterna anaethetus)

Least Tern (Sterna antillarum)

Caspian Tern (Sterna caspia)

Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii)

Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri)

Sooty Tern (Sterna fuscata)

Common Tern (Sterna hirundo)

Royal Tern (Sterna maxima)

Gull-billed Tern (Sterna nilotica)

Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea)

Sandwich Tern (Sterna sandvicensis)

Sabine's Gull (Xema sabini)