Laughing Gull
Leucophaeus atricilla
The Laughing Gull (Leucophaeus atricilla) is a common skimmers, noddies, terns, and gull found in 84 countries. The laughing gull is a medium-sized gull of North and South America.
About the Laughing Gull
The laughing gull is a medium-sized gull of North and South America. Named from its laugh-like call, it is an opportunistic omnivore and scavenger. It breeds in large colonies mostly along the Atlantic coast of North America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. Two subspecies are accepted, L. a. atricilla, which occurs from the West Indies to the Venezuelan islands, and L. a. megalopterus, which occurs from southeast Canada down to Central America. The laughing gull was long placed in the genus Larus until its present placement in Leucophaeus.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
How to identify it
This species is 36–41 cm (14–16 in) long with a 98–110 cm (39–43 in) wingspan and a weight range of 203–371 grams (7.2–13.1 oz). The summer adult's body is white apart from the dark grey back and wings and black head. Its wings are much darker grey than all other gulls of similar size except the smaller Franklin's gull, and they have black tips without the white crescent shown by Franklin's. The beak is long and red. The black hood is mostly lost in winter. Laughing gulls take three years to reach adult plumage.
Where it lives
Recorded as a rare visitor in Sweden, France, South Africa, Taiwan, New Zealand, Japan, Germany, Argentina, Netherlands, Finland, Morocco, Belgium, Georgia, Bolivia, Fiji, Nigeria, India, Greece.
When to see it
The Laughing Gull can be seen all year round, with peak activity in April. It is a resident species across most of its range.
Easily confused with
Quick questions
- How do you identify a Laughing Gull?
- This species is 36–41 cm (14–16 in) long with a 98–110 cm (39–43 in) wingspan and a weight range of 203–371 grams (7.2–13.1 oz). Full identification notes are on this page.
- Where can you see a Laughing Gull?
- The Laughing Gull occurs in 84 countries, including the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, the Bahamas and Panama.
- What birds look similar to a Laughing Gull?
- The Laughing Gull is most easily confused with the Franklin's Gull, the Grey Gull and the Dolphin Gull.
- Is the Laughing Gull endangered?
- The Laughing Gull is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
Learn the Laughing Gull for real
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