Skuas, Gulls & Terns
Ireland's long and varied coastline and location on the edge of the North Atlantic unsurprisingly makes it suitable for many seabirds. Breeding gulls are joined in winters by many migrants, in some years there may be any Iceland and Glaucous Gulls and occasional rarities. Terns are generally summer visitors with large colonies in County Wexford and Rockabill Island in the Irish Sea, with smaller colonies elsewhere. The Roseate Tern population is of particular importance in a European sense. Some tern colonies have declined greatly in recent years which is of concern. Most Skuas are passage birds moving to and from nesting grounds further north, though one or two pairs of Great Skua now nest each year.

Great Skua

Pomarine Skua

Arctic Skua

Bonaparte's Gull

Ring billed Gull

Gulls over Waves

Black-headed Gull

Mediterranean Gull and Fair Head

Mediterranean Gull in Flight

Ross's Gull

Ross's Gull

Little Gull

Kittiwake

Glaucous Gull

Iceland Gull

Kumlien's Gull (Larus glaucoides kumlieni)

Laughing Gull

Little Tern (Sterna albifrons)

Sandwich Tern

Common Tern in Flight

CommonTern

Arctic Tern

Arctic Tern
