Bird
Gull-billed Tern
Gelochelidon nilotica
A summer resident that nests in Virginia. Found in 25 of 133 counties and cities, across 6 habitats.
- Here
- Summer
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- 25 of 133 counties and cities
- Habitats
- 6

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Summer
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- 25 of 133 counties and cities
- Habitats
- 6
- Habitat models
- Summer, Winter
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in Virginia 6
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.



Coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated)
Tidal marshes of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts where the source does not say whether the water is fresh, brackish or salt. A stated salinity files the marsh under freshwater tidal marshes or salt and brackish marshes instead.
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.
Salt and brackish open water of sounds, bays and estuaries, with the mud and sand flats and seagrass beds that tides cover and uncover; the vegetated marsh is salt and brackish marshes.
Other habitats in its models (20)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Virginia.
- Developed, Low Intensity Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Beach Summer and winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Summer and winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore Summer and winter.
- Upper Texas Coast Beach Summer and winter.
- Louisiana Beach Summer and winter.
- Southeast Florida Beach Summer and winter.
- South Florida Shell Hash Beach Summer and winter.
- Florida Panhandle Beach Vegetation Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Sea Island Beach Summer and winter.
- Southwest Florida Beach Summer and winter.
- Texas Coastal Bend Beach Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Dune and Maritime Grassland Summer and winter.
- Southwest Florida Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer and winter.
- Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dune and Swale Summer and winter.
- Central and Upper Texas Coast Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer and winter.
- South Texas Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer and winter.
- Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Texas Saline Coastal Prairie Summer and winter.
Seasons in Virginia
- Summer: nests here, in 25 of 133 counties and cities.
Also found in this habitat
Plants 75
Plants named in NatureServe descriptions of these habitats that grow in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food.
- Shoreline SedgeCarex hyalinolepis
- Common WaxmyrtleMorella cerifera
- SwitchgrassPanicum virgatum
- Dotted SmartweedPersicaria punctata
- Slender Sea-purslaneSesuvium maritimum
- Red MapleAcer rubrum
- Seabeach AmaranthAmaranthus pumilus
- Virginia Chain-fernAnchistea virginica
- Groundsel-treeBaccharis halimifolia
- Coastal Water-hyssopBacopa monnieri
- Sea OxeyeBorrichia frutescens
- American BlueheartsBuchnera americana
- ButtonbushCephalanthus occidentalis
- Sweet WoodreedCinna arundinacea
- Coastal Sweet-pepperbushClethra alnifolia
- Seashore SaltgrassDistichlis spicata
- Estuary PipewortEriocaulon parkeri
- Eryngium aquaticum var. aquaticumEryngium aquaticum var. aquaticum
- Northern Seaside SpurgeEuphorbia polygonifolia
- Fimbristylis carolinianaFimbristylis caroliniana
- Fimbristylis castaneaFimbristylis castanea
- Green AshFraxinus pennsylvanica
- Pumpkin AshFraxinus profunda
- Swamp RosemallowHibiscus moscheutos
Wildlife 242
Other animals whose habitat models include the same habitats in Virginia. Not sighting records.
- Henslow's SparrowAmmodramus henslowii
- Least TernSternula antillarum
- Little GullHydrocoloeus minutus
- MallardAnas platyrhynchos
- MerlinFalco columbarius
- Palm WarblerDendroica palmarum
- Piping PloverCharadrius melodus
- Red KnotCalidris canutus
- Red-necked GrebePodiceps grisegena
- Ring-necked PheasantPhasianus colchicus
- Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensis
- Savannah SparrowPasserculus sandwichensis
- Short-eared OwlAsio flammeus
- Snow GooseChen caerulescens
- American KestrelFalco sparverius
- BrantBranta bernicla
- Cliff SwallowPetrochelidon pyrrhonota
- Common RavenCorvus corax
- DovekieAlle alle
- Eastern TowheePipilo erythrophthalmus
- Great Black-backed GullLarus marinus
- Indigo BuntingPasserina cyanea
- KilldeerCharadrius vociferus
- Long-billed DowitcherLimnodromus scolopaceus
NatureServe Explorer, CC BY 4.0. USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP winter habitat model for Gull-billed Tern Brackish or salt water only
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)












































