Mongolian Gull (Larus mongolicus)
Illustration redrawn by AI from a real photograph

Mongolian Gull

Larus mongolicus Sushkin, 1925

It is a large gull with medium-gray back and wings, black-tipped primaries and usually pink legs.

Busiest months: March · Most records: China, Mongolia, South Korea

Looks like Caspian Gull, Vega Gull

How to identify

Field marks

  1. Back and wings medium gray
  2. Tips of primaries black
  3. Legs usually pink, sometimes tinged yellow
  4. Bill stout

Male, female and young

Male weighs 1.15–1.58 kg; female 0.85–1.1 kg.

Similar species

Caspian Gull
Caspian Gull

Mongolian Gull has slightly darker gray back and wings, is slightly heavier and has a stouter bill than Caspian Gull.

Vega Gull
Vega Gull

Gray tone, weight and bill stoutness are much the same as in Vega Gull; wing markings and molt need close examination to distinguish them.

Where and when it's recorded

Busiest months: March · Most records: China, Mongolia, South Korea

Mongolian Gull has been recorded at 465 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 8 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

  1. Ugii Lake, Ugiinuur, Arkhangai, MNMongolia427 records
  2. Mai Po Nature ReserveHong Kong (China)354 records
  3. Gun Galuut NRMongolia272 records
More places
  1. Shahe ReservoirChina240 records
  2. Ma ChangChina231 records
  3. Baengnyeong-do (island)South Korea218 records
  4. Boon Tsagan NuurMongolia153 records
  5. Nanhui DongtanChina130 records
  6. Songdo – Namdong ReservoirSouth Korea125 records
  7. Bayan Lake, Bayannuur, Bulgan, MNMongolia110 records

Countries and regions with the most records

ChinaMongoliaSouth KoreaThailandJapanVietnamRussiaIndia

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 Mongolian gull (Larus mongolicus) is a large gull in the large white-headed gull (Larus) complex which breeds in interior eastern Asia.

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

Questions

Where does the Mongolian Gull live?

Its breeding range: Palearctic: Altai Republic to Lake Baikal (south-central Russia) and Mongolia; Lake Khanka (Heilongjiang, northeastern China); and Yellow Sea islands (western Korean Peninsula). It is most often recorded in China, Mongolia and South Korea.

When is the best time to see the Mongolian Gull?

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

What family is the Mongolian Gull in?

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

Range

Palearctic: Altai Republic to Lake Baikal (south-central Russia) and Mongolia; Lake Khanka (Heilongjiang, northeastern China); and Yellow Sea islands (western Korean Peninsula)

Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2

Classification

Genus
Larus

Other birds in the genus Larus

Pacific GullPacific GullLarus pacificusBelcher's GullBelcher's GullLarus belcheriBlack-tailed GullBlack-tailed GullLarus crassirostrisOlrog's GullOlrog's GullLarus atlanticusHeermann's GullHeermann's GullLarus heermanniCommon GullCommon GullLarus canusShort-billed GullShort-billed GullLarus brachyrhynchusRing-billed GullRing-billed GullLarus delawarensisYellow-footed GullYellow-footed GullLarus livensWestern GullWestern GullLarus occidentalisCaspian GullCaspian GullLarus cachinnansKelp GullKelp GullLarus dominicanus
Mongolian Gull

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Free to use with credit: “Illustration: Bird Album (birdalbum.com)”. Drawn by AI from a reference photo by Dion Art. ↗

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