#0790 · 🐦 birds
Gull-billed Tern
🇳🇱 Lachstern ·Gelochelidon nilotica
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © Paul Cools · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 2. © Greg Lasley · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 3. © Greg Lasley · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 4. © simben · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- 5. © Saurabh Agrawal · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 6. © Greg Lasley · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 7. © sea-kangaroo · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- 8. © Amber M. King · CC BY 4.0
- 9. © Ian Melbourne · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 10. © Jon McIntyre · CC BY-NC 4.0
what is it?
The gull-billed tern ( Gelochelidon nilotica ), formerly Sterna nilotica , is a tern in the family Laridae. It is now considered to be in its own genus. The genus name is from Ancient Greek gelao , "to laugh", and khelidon , "swallow". The specific niloticus is from Latin and means of the Nile.
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- Spotted 28 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist.
- 11,227 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1789 (237 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Gull-billed Tern
- Nederlands
- Lachstern
- scientific name
- Gelochelidon nilotica
- class
- Aves
- order
- Charadriiformes
- family
- Laridae
- IUCN Red List
- LC · least concern
- sightings in NL
- 28
- sightings in Europe
- 2,620
- sightings worldwide
- 11,227
- GBIF records in NL
- 9,570
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1789 by Johann Friedrich Gmelin
IUCN in Dutch: niet bedreigd. Blank means the sources don't say.
relatives· Laridae
#0538 📷 10Black-headed Gull
🇳🇱 Kokmeeuw
Chroicocephalus ridibundus
LC 👀 5k in NL
#0540 📷 9European Herring Gull
🇳🇱 Zilvermeeuw
Larus argentatus
LC 👀 4.4k in NL
#0567 📷 10Lesser Black-backed Gull
🇳🇱 Kleine Mantelmeeuw
Larus fuscus
LC 👀 2.1k in NL
#0573 📷 10Common Tern
🇳🇱 Visdief
Sterna hirundo
LC 👀 1.7k in NL
#0581 📷 10Common Gull
🇳🇱 Stormmeeuw
Larus canus
LC 👀 1.4k in NL
#0613 📷 9Great Black-backed Gull
🇳🇱 Grote Mantelmeeuw
Larus marinus
LC 👀 632 in NL
#0625 📷 9Sandwich Tern
🇳🇱 Grote Stern
Thalasseus sandvicensis
LC 👀 466 in NL
#0648 📷 9Caspian Gull
🇳🇱 Pontische Meeuw
Larus cachinnans
LC 👀 299 in NL
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 144536, Wikidata Q18834, GBIF 2481263, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.