Laughing Gull

Laughing Gull
Laughing Gull in flight
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Charadriiformes Family: Laridae Genus: Leucophaeus Species: L. atricilla
Binomial name
Leucophaeus atricilla (Linnaeus, 1758, Bahamas)
Synonyms
Larus atricilla

The Laughing Gull, Leucophaeus atricilla, is a medium-sized gull of North and South America. It breeds on the Atlantic coast of North America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. Northernmost populations migrate further south in winter, and this species occurs as a rare vagrant to western Europe. (There was an influx into North-west Europe in late October 2005 when at least 18, possibly as many as 35, individuals occurred on one day in the UK alone.) The Laughing Gull's English name is derived from its raucous kee-agh call, which sounds like a high-pitched laugh "ha... ha... ha...".

This species is easy to identify. It is 36–41 cm long with a 98–110 cm wingspan. 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 bill is long and red. The black hood is mostly lost in winter.

Laughing Gulls take three years to reach adult plumage. Immature birds are always darker than most similar-sized gulls other than Franklin's. First-year birds are greyer below and have paler heads than first-year Franklin's, and second-years can be distinguished by the wing pattern and structure.

Laughing Gulls breed in coastal marshes and ponds in large colonies. The large nest, made largely from grasses, is constructed on the ground. The 3 or 4 greenish eggs are incubated for about three weeks. These are omnivores like most gulls, and they will scavenge as well as seeking suitable small prey.

Like most other members of the genus Leucophaeus, the Laughing Gull was long placed in the genus Larus. The present placement in Leucophaeus follows the American Ornithologists' Union.

Various views and plumages

definitive alternate plumage	Adult in mid-May (definitive alternate plumage)	first basic plumage	Adult in winter (definitive basic plumage)
Juvenile	Adult at St. Thomas, Virgin Islands (definitive alternate plumage)	Vagrant in definitive basic plumage in the UK in late 2005	Preparing to land on beach

References and external links

• BirdLife International (2004). Larus atricilla. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
• American Ornithologists' Union, North American Check-list Committee. Check-list of North American Birds. Accessed 2009-05-26.
• Seabirds by Harrison, ISBN 0-7470-1410-8
• Remsen, J. V., Jr., C. D. Cadena, A. Jaramillo, M. Nores, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, T. S. Schulenberg, F. G. Stiles, D. F. Stotz, and K. J. Zimmer. Version [2009-05-26]. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithologists' Union.
• "National Geographic" Field Guide to the Birds of North America ISBN 0-7922-6877-6
• Laughing Gull - Larus atricilla - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCente
• Laughing Gull Information and Photos - South Dakota Birds and Birding
• Laughing Gull Species Account - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• Field Guide on Flickr
• Laughing Gull Bird Sound

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Leucophaeus atricilla

Wikispecies has information related to: Larus atricilla