Gelochelidon nilotica, Gull-billed tern
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Gelochelidon nilotica   Gmelin, 1789

Gull-billed tern
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | CoL | ITIS | WoRMS

Aves | Charadriiformes | Laridae

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Others; brackish.  Tropical; 56°N - 44°S, 116°W - 173°E (Ref. 124582)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Indo-Pacific, Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm Max length : 43.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 8812); max. published weight: 290.00 g (Ref. 356)

Short description Morphology

Culmen: 4.1 cm; tarsus: 2.3 cm; wing: 33.0 cm.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Total Length: 35 to 43 cm; Wingspan: 86 to 103 cm (Ref. 8812). Total population is 55,000 pairs, mostly in Asia, 40,000 pairs. European population of about 6,800 to 160,000 pairs is declining due to loss of habitat (Ref. 84934). Surface seizing; coastal; coastal Islands (Ref. 356). Feeds by dipping to the sea surface with occasional plunge-dives. Breeds colonially in salt marshes, salt works, coastal dunes, islands and freshwater lagoons in southern North America, Caribbean, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and northern Africa (Ref. 84934). Gull-billed terns are observed to display group adherence. This species has a high nest fidelity in stable habitats, and yet when environmental disasters occur, they retain their mates and settle with the same neighbors at the breeding locality (Ref. 87784).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Enticott, J. and D. Tipling 1997 Seabirds of the World: the complete reference. Singapore: New Holland (Publishers) Ltd. 234 p. (Ref. 84934)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-1)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 14 August 2019

CITES status (Ref. 108899)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)


Threat to humans

Human uses


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Ecology
Population dynamics
Growth
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Fecundity
Spawning
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Distribution
Physiology
Oxygen consumption
Human Related
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
References

Internet sources

BHL | BOLD Systems | CISTI | DiscoverLife | FAO(Publication : search) | Fishipedia | GenBank (genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | Gomexsi | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | PubMed | Tree of Life | Wikipedia (Go, Search) | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 12.1 - 29.1, mean 27.1 (based on 5421 cells).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 71543): Low to moderate vulnerability (33 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766): Unknown.