The Gull-billed Tern is a graceful medium size tern, pale gray and white bird with long wings, a distinctive thick black bill (like a gull’s, hence the name), and a black cap in summer, it hunts insects and small creatures in marshes and over wet fields by skimming over the surface rather than surface diving or plunged diving for fish like most other terns.
It is an uncommon migratory tern throughout West Malaysia, but at Teluk Air Tawar – Kuala Muda IBA is a frequent visitor, sometime in small flocks. It is far more common at the North Central Selangor Coast IBA .
At Teluk Air Tawar – Kuala Muda: a migrant. It was recorded during the MNS Penang survey of October 2024 to March 2026. Look for it from August to April, in the largest numbers from October to February. See When to see shorebirds at Teluk Air Tawar – Kuala Muda.
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