Laughing Gull

Leucophaeus atricilla (Linnaeus, 1758)

36–41 cmLength105 cmWingspan307 gWeight

It is a gull with a black head and red bill in summer, and its call sounds like loud laughter.

Busiest months: April · Most records: United States, Mexico, Panama

Looks like Franklin's Gull

How to identify

Field marks

Head black in summer; hood mostly disappears in winter
Adult in summer plumage has dark gray back and wings, black head and white body
Bill long and red
Wingtips black, without a white crescent

Male, female and young

Takes three years to acquire adult plumage; first-year juvenile has entirely black tail feathers.

Voice

A sharp, grating “kee-agh”, sounding like loud laughter.

Similar species

Franklin's Gull

Franklin's Gull is smaller, with a white crescent at the wingtips; Laughing Gull has all-black wingtips.

Where and when it's recorded

Busiest months: April · Most records: United States, Mexico, Panama

Laughing Gull has been recorded at 1,057 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 70 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

Fort De Soto ParkUnited States23,703 records
Cape Island – South Cape May MeadowsUnited States17,746 records
Edwin B. Forsythe NWRUnited States15,395 records

More places

Cape Island – Cape May Point SPUnited States14,558 records
South Padre Is. – WBC/Conv. Center/Laguna Madre TrailUnited States14,027 records
Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Ctr.United States12,560 records
South Padre Is. – Birding and Nature CenterUnited States12,219 records
Bombay Hook National Wildlife RefugeUnited States10,956 records
Edwin B. Forsythe NWR – Wildlife DriveUnited States9,835 records
Cape Island – Higbee Beach WMAUnited States9,476 records

Countries and regions with the most records

United States Mexico Panama Costa Rica Belize Aruba Bahamas Colombia

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The laughing gull (Leucophaeus atricilla) 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.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions

How big is the Laughing Gull?

The Laughing Gull is about 36–41 cm long, with a wingspan of 105 cm and weighs around 307 g.

Where does the Laughing Gull live?

Its breeding range: North America, Middle America, South America: islands off western North Atlantic coast of Maine to Florida, Gulf of Mexico to southern Texas; Yucatan Peninsula; Gulf of California to Colima; West Indies, islands off Yucatan Peninsula, and islands north of Venezuela, Trinidad, Tobago and to French Guiana. It is most often recorded in United States, Mexico and Panama.

When is the best time to see the Laughing Gull?

At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in April (Northern Hemisphere).

What does the Laughing Gull eat?

Main food: Fish, shrimp & shellfish.

What family is the Laughing Gull in?

It belongs to the family Gulls, Terns, Skimmers (Laridae), order Charadriiformes.

At a glance

Length: 36–41 cm
Wingspan: 105 cm
Weight: 307 g
Habitat: Ocean
Diet: Fish, shrimp & shellfish
Lifestyle: Feeds in the air
Migration: Partial migrant

More measurements

Wing: 298 mm
Tail: 112 mm
Bill: 44 mm
Tarsus: 45 mm

Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.

Range

North America, Middle America, South America: islands off western North Atlantic coast of Maine to Florida, Gulf of Mexico to southern Texas; Yucatan Peninsula; Gulf of California to Colima; West Indies, islands off Yucatan Peninsula, and islands north of Venezuela, Trinidad, Tobago and to French Guiana

Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2