Birds
Gull-billed Tern
Gelochelidon nilotica · also called gull-billed terns
Snatching an insect from open grassland rather than a fish from the sea, a gull-billed tern lives up to its name with a thick, black bill built more like a gull’s than the slender spear typical of most terns.
Overview
The gull-billed tern, Gelochelidon nilotica, is a broadly distributed tern native to coastal, wetland, and grassland habitat across a range spanning North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. Its distinctive thick, gull-like bill, unusually generalist diet of insects and small reptiles alongside fish, and willingness to hunt over dry land make it one of the most ecologically flexible members of the entire tern family.
A tern that hunts like something else
Most terns are defined by fishing over open water, but the gull-billed tern spends much of its time hunting insects and small reptiles across marshes and grassland, a lifestyle that blurs the usual line between tern and gull feeding habits.
Status
Least Concern, remaining widespread across suitable coastal, wetland, and grassland habitat spanning multiple continents.
Gull-billed Tern: common questions
How is the gull-billed tern's bill different from other terns?
This species has a thick, black, gull-like bill rather than the slender, pointed bill typical of most other tern species, a feature that gives the species its common name.
Does the gull-billed tern eat mostly fish like other terns?
No, this species feeds heavily on insects and small reptiles as well as fish, a noticeably broader diet than the largely fish-based diets of most other tern species, and it hunts as often over land as over water.
How widespread is the gull-billed tern?
This species has a cosmopolitan distribution, found across parts of North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia, making it one of the more globally widespread terns.
Why does the gull-billed tern hunt over land?
This species has adapted to hunt insects and small reptiles across marshes and grassland habitat, a more generalist feeding strategy than the largely fish-specialist hunting seen in most other terns confined to water.