---
title: "Gull-billed Tern"
description: "Gelochelidon nilotica — Birds. The gull-billed tern (Gelochelidon nilotica) is a tern in the family Laridae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/gull-billed-tern
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Gull-billed Tern

> Gelochelidon nilotica — Birds. The gull-billed tern (Gelochelidon nilotica) is a tern in the family Laridae.

- Scientific name: *Gelochelidon nilotica*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: `freshwater` (Lakes & rivers)
- iNaturalist observations: 11057
- Wikidata: [Q18834](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18834)
- iNaturalist taxon: [144536](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/144536)

## Names

- en: Gull-billed Tern
- de: Lachseeschwalbe
- es: Charrán pico grueso
- fr: Sterne hansel
- nl: Lachstern
- pt: Gaivina-de-bico-preto
- pl: Rybitwa krótkodzioba

## Countries with the most observations

US (2768), ES (693), IN (624), MX (617), FR (604), RU (522), CN (327), IT (221), UA (214), LK (168), AR (154), TW (140)

## Summary

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.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gull-billed_tern

## Photo

![Gull-billed Tern](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/gull-billed-tern/medium.jpg)

Photo: Yehor Yatsiuk · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/48429111

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/gull-billed-tern?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).