Listen to the Gull-billed tern
Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.
About the Gull-billed tern
The Gull-billed tern is a bird in the family Laridae (order Charadriiformes). Its conservation status on the IUCN Red List is “least concern”. Adults have a wingspan of about 94 cm.
What does the Gull-billed tern sound like?
Most birds have two kinds of vocalisation: songs, which are learned or innate phrases delivered mainly in spring and summer, and calls – brief contact, alarm and begging notes heard all year round. Listening for both helps with identification.
The recordings here are labelled as call. Listen for differences in rhythm, pitch and repetition – the spectrum display makes it easy to see whether a sound is a pure whistle (a thin line), a harsh call (a broad band) or a trill (rapid repeated marks).
From Wikipedia
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.
More from the family Laridae
Black-headed gull
Chroicocephalus ridibundus
European herring gull
Larus argentatus
Common tern
Sterna hirundo
Common gull
Larus canus
Lesser black-backed gull
Larus fuscus
Arctic tern
Sterna paradisaea
Caspian tern
Hydroprogne caspia
Black-legged kittiwake
Rissa tridactyla
Great black-backed gull
Larus marinus
Black tern
Chlidonias niger
Sandwich tern
Thalasseus sandvicensis
Yellow-legged gull
Larus michahellis
Frequently asked questions
What does a Gull-billed tern sound like?
You can hear 1 recording of the Gull-billed tern on this page, including its call. Most birds have two kinds of vocalisation: songs, which are learned or innate phrases delivered mainly in spring and summer, and calls – brief contact, alarm and begging notes heard all year round.
Is the Gull-billed tern endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the Gull-billed tern as “least concern”.
What family does the Gull-billed tern belong to?
The Gull-billed tern (Gelochelidon nilotica) belongs to the family Laridae in the order Charadriiformes.
Sources & credits
- Call · Área Metropolitana de Sevilla (near Isla Mayor), Sevilla… by Joost van Bruggen – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Wikidata Q18834 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Gull-billed tern – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo by leppyone (Vincent P. Lucas) – CC BY 2.0