10 Types of Terns – Gulls and Seabirds in India

Seabirds are also known as marine birds who adapted the marine environment and lifestyle. There are many species of Seabirds found in India, few are listed as Terns, gulls and skuas.

Indian River Tern

The Indian river tern (Sterna aurantia) is a large tern species found in India and a resident breeder along the rivers and dam backwaters of Indian rivers, Nest along with pratincoles.

Black-bellied Tern

Black-bellied tern (Sterna acuticauda) is river tern species that found near large rivers in the Indian subcontinent.
The endangered tern bird found nesting with such as Indian river terns and Indian skimmers in River Chambal.

Gull-billed Tern

The gull-billed tern is an opportunistic feeder and feeds on dragonflies and hunts over wet fields. Chilika lake in Odisha and Krishna Wildlife Sanctuary in Andhra Pradesh are best place to spot different species of terns in India.

Whiskered Tern

Whiskered Tern is a resident of winter birds Africa and the Indian Subcontinent and found inland with other species of sea birds of India such as black-headed gulls and common tern.

The Indian skimmer or Indian scissors-bill (Rynchops albicollis) is NOT a tern BUT they are somewhat tern- like birds found in India. One of the most beautiful river birds of India, mainly found in rivers or estuaries of Mahanadi and Chambal.

SeaGulls and SeaTerns – SeaBirds of India

Seagulls, Tropicbirds and few species of terns are large seabirds that visit India during the winter season every year, from Mumbai to Varanasi.
Terns are a group of generally medium to large seabirds and are generally long-lived birds, Few of the known species of tern known as seabirds are:

Sooty Tern (Onychoprion fuscatus), Common Tern (Sterna hirundo), Little Tern (Sternula albifrons), Lesser Crested Tern (Thalasseus bengalensis) Bridled tern and Saunders’s Tern.

White-cheeked Tern

White-cheeked tern is another sea bird from tern family who inhabits tropical coasts of India. Recently Indian birders found Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea) in Mumbai coast, Arctic Tern spotted in India after 96 years.

Common Tern (Sterna hirundo)

Common tern is a seabird species of tern and a strongly migratory bird in India, wintering in coastal tropical and subtropical regions of the country with other species of terns.

Lesser Crested Tern (Thalasseus bengalensis)

Lesser crested tern is protected in the PM Sayeed Marine Birds Conservation Reserve along with few more species of seabirds found in India like Greater crested tern and Sooty tern.

Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus)

Black-headed gulls migratory seabird, wintering on the rivers, coasts and inland lakes of the India. There are 9 species of gull found in India reported so far from different places, few of them are Common Gull, Brown-headed Gull, Black-headed Gull, Laughing Gull and Caspian gull.

Masked Booby (Sula dactylatra)

The masked booby is anoter rare bird spotted in Mumbai this year by birders of India along with Arctic Tern.
Masked gannet or masked booby from the family Sulidae, though they are not found off the coast of the Indian subcontinent but spotted.

Brown Noddy (Anous stolidus)

Brown noddy or common noddy is a dark brown tropical seabird with a worldwide distribution, found in the Indian Ocean.
PM Sayeed Marine Birds Conservation Reserve is the best place to spot list of rare marine birds in India including different species of terns, and more.

Parasitic Jaeger ! Skuas

Parasitic Jaeger are the most widespread and common jaeger found in Indian coast.
Arctic Skua is another rare and migratory species that visit India, Recorded from Rameswaram Island in Tamil Nadu State.

Seabirds of Goa

Goa is the best place in India spot number of seabirds species such as Storm petrels, Tropicbirds, Shearwaters and gannets.
Coast of Mumbai to Goa is dotted with so many places to spot some of the most rare seabirds including Arctic Tern, Brown noddy and Sooty gull.