Laridae

Laridae is a family of seabirds in the order Charadriiformes that includes the gulls, terns (including white terns), noddies, and skimmers. It includes 105 species arranged into 23 genera. They are an adaptable group of mostly aerial birds found worldwide.

thumb|Common tern in flight thumb|Common tern in flight

thumb|right|Immature (probably 2nd year) Armenian gull in flight, flying over [[Lake Sevan]] Gulls or seagulls are seabirds of the subfamily Larinae. They are most closely related to terns and skimmers, and are placed with them in the family Laridae. They are also related, more distantly, to auks and skuas, and more distantly still to waders. Until the 21st century, most gulls were placed in the genus Larus, but that arrangement is now considered polyphyletic, leading to the readoption and revision of several genera.

The noddies, forming the genus Anous, are a genus of seabirds in family Laridae which also contains the gulls, terns and skimmers. The genus contains five species.

species of bird

Gelochelidon is a genus of terns. It was considered a monotypic genus until the Australian tern was split from the gull-billed tern.