page_title: List of birds of Panama
section_title: Gulls, terns, and skimmers
hierarchical_section_title: List of birds of Panama / Gulls, terns, and skimmers
caption_attribution_description: Royal Tern
context_page_description: This is a list of the bird species recorded in Panama. The avifauna of Panama included a total of 994 species as of December 2019, according to Bird Checklists of the World. Nine additional species have been added through eBird through June 2020. Of the 1003 species, 170 are rare or accidental and six have been introduced by humans. Seven are endemic.
  This list is presented in the taxonomic sequence of the Check-list of North and Middle American Birds, 7th edition through the 61st Supplement, published by the American Ornithological Society. Common and scientific names are also those of the Check-list, except that the common names of families are from the Clements taxonomy because the AOS list does not include them.
  Unless otherwise noted, the species on this list are considered to occur regularly in Panama as permanent residents, summer or winter visitors, or migrants. The following tags have been used to highlight several categories. The tags and notes of population status are from Bird Checklists of the World.
  Accidental - a species that rarely or accidentally occurs in Panama
  Endemic - a species endemic to Panama
context_section_description: Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Laridae
  Laridae is a family of medium to large seabirds and includes gulls, kittiwakes, terns, and skimmers. They are typically gray or white, often with black markings on the head or wings. They have longish bills and webbed feet. Terns are a group of generally medium to large seabirds typically with gray or white plumage, often with black markings on the head. Most terns hunt fish by diving but some pick insects off the surface of fresh water. Terns are generally long-lived birds, with several species known to live in excess of 30 years. Skimmers are a small family of tropical tern-like birds. They have an elongated lower mandible which they use to feed by flying low over the water surface and skimming the water for small fish.
  Swallow-tailed gull, Creagrus furcatus (A)
  Black-legged kittiwake, Rissa tridactyla (A)
  Sabine's gull, Xema sabini
  Bonaparte's gull, Chroicocephalus philadelphia (A)
  Gray-hooded gull, Chroicocephalus cirrocephalus (A)
  Gray gull, Leucophaeus modestus (A)
  Laughing gull, Leucophaeus atricilla
  Franklin's gull, Leucophaeus pipixcan
  Belcher's gull, Larus belcheri (A)
  Ring-billed gull, Larus delawarensis
  Western gull, Larus occidentalis (A)
  California gull, Larus californicus (A)
  Herring gull, Larus argentatus
  Lesser black-backed gull, Larus fuscus (A)
  Kelp gull, Larus dominicanus (A)
  Brown noddy, Anous stolidus
  Black noddy, Anous minutus (A)
  White tern, Gygis alba (A)
  Sooty tern, Onychoprion fuscatus
  Bridled tern, Onychoprion anaethetus
  Least tern, Sternula antillarum
  Yellow-billed tern, Sternula superciliaris (A)
  Large-billed tern, Phaetusa simplex (A)
  Gull-billed tern, Gelochelidon nilotica
  Caspian tern, Hydroprogne caspia
  Inca tern, Larosterna inca (A) (near-threatened)
  Black tern, Chlidonias niger
  Common tern, Sterna hirundo
  Arctic tern, Sterna paradisaea (A)
  Forster's tern, Sterna forsteri (A)
  Royal tern, Thalasseus maxima
  Sandwich tern, Thalasseus sandvicensis
  Elegant tern, Thalasseus elegans (near-threatened)
  Black skimmer, Rynchops niger (A)
caption: Royal terns are common non-breeding visitors to coasts.
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