Definition:

(noun) The scientific bird family classification that includes all gulls, terns and skimmers. There are roughly 100 bird species in this family depending on how different species are split or lumped. They have a worldwide distribution from the high Arctic tundra to Antarctica and are found on every continent, but are missing from the heaviest tropical jungles of Africa and South America as well as the driest, most barren deserts in Africa and Australia.


Though often associated with beaches and coasts, Laridae birds are also frequent residents of wetlands, marshes, rural areas and even urban and suburban regions including heavily populated areas and landfills.

These birds share a number of physical characteristics that identify them as members of the Laridae family, including:

• Omnivorous diets, including trash and carrion
• Thick bill that is relatively long, though shapes vary greatly
• Often countershaded plumage with white underparts
• Long, narrow wings with a tapered shape for soaring flight
• Social behavior and gregarious tendencies
• Webbed feet for swimming, though they are more often seen on land or in flight

Familiar birds in the Laridae family include the ring-billed gull, ivory gull, red-legged kittiwake, black skimmer, laughing gull, Caspian tern and Arctic tern.

Photo – Western Gull © Kristina D.C. Hoeppner

Pronunciation:

LURR-ih-day or lurr-IH-day

Also Known As:

Gull Family, Gulls, Terns, Seagulls, Larids