Bird Guide

Grey-headed Gull vs Hartlaub's Gull

Grey-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus cirrocephalus)

Grey-headed Gull

Chroicocephalus cirrocephalus

375 gWetland

The grey-headed gull is slightly larger than the black-headed gull at 42 cm length. The summer adult has a pale grey head, a grey body, slightly darker in tone than in black-headed gull, and red bill and legs. The black tips to the primary wing feathers have conspicuous white "mirrors". The underwing is dark grey with black wingtips. The grey hood is lost in winter, leaving just two dark smudges around and behind the eye. The eye is dark in immatures, but has a white iris in adults. The sexes are similar.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Grey-headed Gull
Recorded by Kileo Jumah · Begging call, call · Ngorongoro Conservation Area (crater floor), Arusha, Tanzania · CC0
Photo: vinicius_s_domingues · CC BY 4.0
Hartlaub's Gull (Chroicocephalus hartlaubii)

Hartlaub's Gull

Chroicocephalus hartlaubii

Medium288 gCoastal

Hartlaub's gull is 37–39 cm in length, with a wingspan of 89–92 cm and a weight of 235–340 g. It is a mainly white gull with a grey back and upperwings, black wingtips with conspicuous white "mirrors", and a dark red bill and legs. When breeding it has a very faint lavender grey hood, but otherwise has a plain white head. The sexes are similar. This species differs from the slightly larger grey-headed gull in its thinner, darker bill, deeper red legs, paler, plainer head, and dark eyes. It takes two years to reach maturity. Juvenile birds have a brown band across the wings.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: salsaboy on Flickr · CC BY 2.0

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Grey-headed Gull and Hartlaub's Gull.