Guardian Nature School Team Contact Blog Project Noah Facebook Project Noah Twitter

A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife

Join Project Noah!
nature school apple icon

Project Noah Nature School visit nature school

Laughing Gull

Larus atricilla

Description:

Gulls (often informally called seagulls) are birds in the family Laridae. They are most closely related to the terns (family Sternidae) and only distantly related to auks, skimmers, and more distantly to the waders. Until the twenty-first century most gulls were placed in the genus Larus, but this arrangement is now known to be polyphyletic, leading to the resurrection of several genera.[1] Gulls are typically medium to large birds, usually grey or white, often with black markings on the head or wings. They typically have harsh wailing or squawking calls, stout, longish bills, and webbed feet. Most gulls, particularly Larus species, are ground-nesting carnivores, which will take live food or scavenge opportunistically. Live food often includes crabs and small fish. Gulls have prophylactic unhinging jaws which allow them to consume large prey. Apart from the kittiwakes, gulls are typically coastal or inland species, rarely venturing far out to sea[2] The large species take up to four years to attain full adult plumage, but two years is typical for small gulls. Large White-Headed Gulls are typically long-lived birds, with a maximum age of 49 years recorded for the Herring Gull.[3] Gulls nest in large, densely packed noisy colonies. They lay two to three speckled eggs in nests composed of vegetation. The young are precocial, being born with dark mottled down, and mobile upon hatching.[4] Gulls—the larger species in particular—are resourceful, inquisitive and intelligent[5] birds, demonstrating complex methods of communication and a highly developed social structure. For example, many gull colonies display mobbing behaviour, attacking and harassing would-be predators and other intruders.[6] Certain species (e.g. the Herring Gull) have exhibited tool use behaviour, using pieces of bread as bait with which to catch goldfish, for example.[7] Many species of gull have learned to coexist successfully with humans and have thrived in human habitats.[8] Others rely on kleptoparasitism to get their food. Gulls have been observed preying on live whales, landing on the whale as it surfaces to peck out pieces of flesh

Habitat:

The gulls have a worldwide cosmopolitan distribution. They breed on every continent, including the margins of Antarctica, and are found in the high Arctic as well. They are less common on tropical islands, although a few species do live on islands such as the Galapagos and New Caledonia. Many species breed in costal colonies, with a preference for islands, and one species, the Grey Gull, breeds in the interior of dry deserts far from water. There is considerable variety in the family and species may breed and feed in marine, freshwater or terrestrial habitats. [10] Most gull species are migratory, with birds moving to warmer habitats during the winter, but the extent to which they migrate varies by species. Some species migrate long distances, like the Franklin's Gull, which migrates from Canada to wintering grounds in the south of South America. Other species move much shorter distances and may simply disperse along the costs near their breeding sites. [10] [edit] Behaviour

1 Species ID Suggestions

Ava T-B
Ava T-B 12 years ago
Laughing Gull
Larus atricilla Laughing Gull


Sign in to suggest organism ID

4 Comments

Atul
Atul 12 years ago

lovely flight snap ,really nice!!

Must have landed too close to an alligator!

Ava T-B
Ava T-B 12 years ago

Great coming-in-for-a-landing shot. poor guy is missing his left foot!

Very informative Michelle. Just a couple of small points - can you please add the habitat you actually saw it in (I take it from the location it was not a coastal beach) and tick the "needs ID" box if you have not already done so in order that we can ID it down to an individual species (I am assuming you would have entered that if you knew it). Thank you.

MichelleMccracken
Spotted by
MichelleMccracken

St. Petersburg, Florida, USA

Spotted on Nov 13, 2011
Submitted on Nov 23, 2011

Related Spottings

Larus ridibundus Ring-billed Gull Heuglin's Gull Ring-Billed Gull

Nearby Spottings

Raccoon Mangrove Skipper Groove-billed Ani Eastern Rat Snake
Noah Guardians
Noah Sponsors
join Project Noah Team

Join the Project Noah Team