Seen in Sydney Australia - Seven species of gull or tern amidst stunning scenery

This video combines six years of footage, mostly from 2020-2024, collected in Sydney (NSW, Australia). Seven bird species (two gulls and five terns) are showcased and are presented in sections which reveal the filming location and the time of year that they are typically seen there. This is not a definitive list of all the gulls or terns possible in the Sydney region (nor all the places where they might be found) and sighting periods are a rough guide, with mostly a lower chance in the bookend months (where relevant) and higher chance in the middle. The likelihood of a sighting also depends upon weather conditions and tide. Whether you be a local birder or planning a birding adventure in Australia, we recommend using this video as inspiration and then checking bird data sites such as ebird.org/region/AU for the latest bird activity in the area.
The birds covered here in order of appearance are: Kelp Gull (Larus dominicanus), Silver Gull (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae), Crested Tern aka Greater/Great Crested Tern (Thalasseus bergii), Common Tern (Sterna hirundo), White-fronted Tern (Sterna striata), Little Tern (Sternula albifrons) and Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia). Note that we haven’t labelled the birds with their probable age/stage - e.g. adult breeding/non-breeding, juvenile, first (year) immature, second immature etc - as we simply aim to assist birders with identification of a species by including all available views.
The locations for the various bird scenes were Boat Harbour Kurnell, Doughboy Head Kurnell, Sydney Olympic Park Waterbird Refuge, Taren Point Shorebird Reserve, Hen and Chicken Bay and Ramsgate Beach Baths. The title page photo was taken at Boat Harbour, as were the opening and closing video vistas. The gorgeous crab was also filmed at Boat Harbour. Most of these sites were visited multiple times or many occasions across seasons and a lot of data can be found on ebird.
The more recent discovery was Ramsgate Beach Baths and data is more limited here. Common Terns appear to favour this area but we can’t be sure of the September to April time-frame (although quite likely based on sightings around Botany Bay). Common Terns migrate to Australia from their northern Asia breeding grounds. At the transition times of September and April, far fewer Common Terns are noted in the Sydney region, with the peak being the austral summer. Some immature birds remain in Australia for the austral winter, but are rarely seen in Sydney; a better bet would be the warmer stretches of coastline to the north.
White-fronted Terns have pretty much the opposite pattern of visitation; they can appear in Sydney from April onwards, with peak sightings in the austral winter, although double-digit counts are rare. Some linger well into spring but very few seen by November. Australian coastal sightings are mostly non-breeding migrants from NZ; many are immatures with distinct plumage (e.g. broad black carpel-bar).
The final migratory species in our seven species collection is the Little Tern. But here the story is more complicated. Most Little Tern sightings in Australia (including Sydney) occur between October and March and involve non-breeding migrants from Asian breeding grounds. However, there is a smaller population that breeds in Australia. In southern and eastern parts of the country (Victoria, NSW and southern Queensland) the breeding season is October - March. Some of these birds may migrate north (e.g. Pacific Islands and parts of Asia) in the winter, while others stay in Australia year round. Hence, it’s possible to see a mix of non-breeding Little Terns (from Asia) and breeding Little Terns (from Australia) during the austral summer, then much smaller numbers (of Australia-based Little Terns who stayed in Australia) during the cooler months. Alas, the Little Tern is now listed as Endangered in NSW. Threats to this beach-nesting bird include disturbance by people/dogs, foxes, 4WDs and high tides.
Filmed, edited and produced by Darren and Thalia Broughton.
Bird Scenes
0:00 Opening scene
0:12 Kelp Gull
3:05 Silver Gull
4:53 Crested Tern
7:52 Common Tern
9:25 White-fronted Tern
9:59 Little Tern
10:29 Caspian Tern

[@wildbluemountains4137]

Wonderful footage of our beautiful seabirds Thalia and Darren! So great to see them celebrated in your excellent video. 👏🥰

[@missapippin9020]

Lovely video. Watching them do what they should be doing undisturbed by humans. They are all just simply gorgeous. Thank you so very much for sharing.

[@BIBYTV]

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