Gulls and terns · Shorebirds
Black-headed Gull
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Chroicocephalus ridibundus
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Voice
Call
Marie-Lan Taÿ Pamart
Call
Marie-Lan Taÿ Pamart
Call
Marie-Lan Taÿ Pamart
How to recognize it
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Small, slender gull, smaller than Herring Gull
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Breeding adult: dark brown head with a white nape; winter: white head with black ear spots
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Broad white leading edge on the wing, black trailing edge/tip pattern
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Noisy colony feeder; harsh crackling calls, often a rolling ‘kree-ar’
About the species
The black-headed gull is a lively, small gull that is easy to notice on water and around towns. In breeding plumage it shows a dark head and a pale body, and in flight its narrow, pointed wings stand out.
It is noisy and highly social, especially in colonies. Its calls can sound sharp and crackling, and it also makes catlike and chuckling sounds. When disturbed, the whole group can erupt at once.
It breeds on lakes, rivers, marshes, and other wet places, and it has also adapted to city dumps and food-processing sites. It eats insects, worms, fish, frogs, and scraps, and most populations move south or west for winter.
Did you know?
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Summer on land, winter fishing
Black-headed gulls switch diets with the seasons: in summer they live on land eating insects and grubs that can't flee, and only return to fishing in winter when they shed the black hood.
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The gull with two faces
Black-headed gulls grow their black mask only in the breeding season to frighten neighbouring gulls and space out territories, then turn away to show white when courting a mate so the same face that protects eggs doesn't drive their partner off.
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Finnish chick, Texan winter
A black-headed gull ringed as a fledgling in Finland in June 1996 crossed the Atlantic and was identified by telescope in Fort Worth, Texas, in January 2000, returning to the same Texas wintering spot the next year.
You might also see
Sources
- eBird — Chroicocephalus ridibundus Sightings map and full description on eBird
- Wikipedia — Black-headed gull Encyclopedia article