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Black-headed Gull

Black-headed Gull

Chroicocephalus ridibundus

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The Black-headed Gull is a small, adaptable gull widespread across Europe and much of northern Asia, with a small foothold in eastern Canada. In summer adults have a chocolate-brown hood, which in winter is reduced to a dark ear spot on a white head. It breeds in noisy colonies on marshes and lake islands, and most northern birds migrate south or west for winter, while many stay in milder parts of Europe.

Did you know?

  • Despite its name, the head is chocolate-brown in summer, and the hood disappears in winter.
  • Its species name, ridibundus, is Latin for “laughing”, after its raucous calls.

Voice

Song
Call
Flight call

About the species

Identification

A smallish gull with a grey back and wings and white underparts and tail. In summer it is recognised by the dark brown hood and red legs; in winter the head turns white with a dark spot behind the eye. Young birds show brown on the wings and a dark tail band. In flight the white leading edge of the outer wing is distinctive.

Family

Laridae

Size

Large (crow)

Colours

white, grey, brown, red, black

About the habitat

Breeds on islands in lakes, marshes, reedbeds and coastal lagoons; outside the breeding season also estuaries, beaches, fields, parks and urban waterfronts.

Diet

An opportunist: insects, earthworms and other invertebrates in fields and wetlands, small fish, seeds and berries, as well as scraps and carrion in towns. It often follows ploughs.

Behaviour

Bold and gregarious year-round, forming dense breeding colonies and large communal roosts. Agile in flight, often hawking insects in tern-like fashion, and frequently steals food from other birds. It nests on the ground in colonies, with pairs close together, and removes eggshells after hatching. Rarely seen far out at sea.

Sources

Photo: Hans Hillewaert, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chroicocephalus ridibundus (summer).jpg

Sound: Dan Stowell, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chroicocephalus_ridibundus_-_Black-headed_Gull_XC143894.mp3

Sound: Marie-Lan Taÿ Pamart, XC512864, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://xeno-canto.org/512864

Sound: Sonothèque ADVL, XC707070, CC0 1.0 https://xeno-canto.org/707070

Text: Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions, CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-headed_gull

See also