Laughing gull

Laughing gull
	Call
Conservation status
	; Least Concern(IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Charadriiformes
Family:	Laridae
Genus:	Leucophaeus
Species:	L. atricilla
Binomial name
	Leucophaeus atricilla; (Linnaeus,1758)
	geographical range breeding year-round nonbreeding
Synonyms
	Larus atricillaLinnaeus, 1758

Thelaughing gull(Leucophaeus atricilla) is a medium-sizedgullofNorthandSouth America.Named for its laugh-like call, it is an opportunisticomnivoreandscavenger.It breeds in large colonies mostly along theAtlanticcoast of North America, theCaribbean,and northern South America. The twosubspeciesareL. a. megalopterus— which can be seen from southeast Canada down toCentral America— andL. a. atricilla,which appears from theWest Indiesto theVenezuelanislands. The laughing gull was long placed in the genusLarusuntil its present placement inLeucophaeus,which follows theAmerican Ornithologists' Union.

Name

The genus nameLeucophaeusis fromAncient Greek λευκός:leukós,"white", andφαιός:phaios,"dusky". The specificatricillais fromLatinatra,"black", "unlucky" or "malevolent" andcilla,"tail".^[2]

According to theHelm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names,Linnaeusmay have intended to writeatricapilla(black-haired), which would have been more appropriate, as the bird has a black head and white tail.^[2]

Range

It breeds on theAtlanticcoast of North America, theCaribbean,and northern South America. Northernmost populationsmigratefarther south in winter, and this species occurs as a rarevagranttowestern Europe.The laughing gull's English name is derived from its raucouskee-aghcall, which sounds like a high-pitched laugh "ha... ha... ha...".^[3]

Laughing gulls breed in coastalmarshesand ponds in largecolonies.The largenest,made largely fromgrasses,is constructed on the ground. The three or four greenish eggs are incubated for about three weeks.

Description

This species is 36–41 cm (14–16 in) long with a 98–110 cm (39–43 in) wingspan and a weight range^[4]of 203–371 grams (7.2–13.1 oz). 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 smallerFranklin's gull,and they have black tips without the white crescent shown by Franklin's. Thebeakis 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.

Subspecies

The twosubspeciesare:^[5]

L. a. megalopterus(Bruch,1855)— coastal southeast Canada, eastern & southern United States, Mexico &Central America
L. a. atricilla(Linnaeus,1758)—West IndiestoVenezuelanislands

Like most other members of the genusLeucophaeus,the laughing gull was long placed in the genusLarus.The present placement inLeucophaeusfollows theAmerican Ornithologists' Union.^[6]^[7]

Gallery

Egg, CollectionMuseum Wiesbaden
Mating plumage includes black head and red bill
Definitive alternate plumage
Adult in mid-May (definitive alternate plumage)
Laughing gull, alternate plumage, North Carolina, US, 2016
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
At Los Roques, Venezuela
First winter laughing gull inRiverhead, New York
Adult in breeding plumage, American Virgin Islands
Adult in breeding plumage, American Virgin Islands
Preparing to land on beach, American Virgin Islands
Laughing gulls following a shrimp boat off the coast ofJacksonville, Florida

References

^BirdLife International(2012)."Larus atricilla".IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.2012.Retrieved26 November2013.{{cite iucn}}: old-form url (help)
^^a ^bJobling, James A (2010).The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names.London: Christopher Helm. pp.59,224.ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
^"Laughing Gull (Larus atricilla)".Handbook of the Birds of the World.doi:10.2173/bow.laugul.01.S2CID 216445679.Retrieved29 October2018.
^"Laughing Gull Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology".www.allaboutbirds.org.Retrieved2020-09-25.
^Burger, Joanna (4 March 2020)."Laughing Gull (Larus atricilla)".Birds of the World.doi:10.2173/bow.laugul.01.S2CID 216445679.
^"Check-list of North American Birds".North American Classification Committee.American Ornithologists' Union.Retrieved2009-05-26.
^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. Stot; K. J. Zimmer."A classification of the bird species of South America".South American Classification Committee.American Ornithologists' Union. Archived fromthe originalon 2009-03-02.Retrieved2009-05-26.

External links

Laughing Gull -Larus atricilla- USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
Laughing Gull Species Account- Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Field Guide on Flickr
Laughing Gull Bird Soundat Florida Museum of Natural History
"Laughing Gull media".Internet Bird Collection.
Laughing Gull photo galleryat VIREO (Drexel University)
Interactive range map ofLeucophaeus atricillaatIUCN Red List maps

[1] BirdLife International(2012)."Larus atricilla".IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.2012.Retrieved26 November2013.{{cite iucn}}: old-form url (help)

[job-2] Jobling, James A (2010).The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names.London: Christopher Helm. pp.59,224.ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.

[3] "Laughing Gull (Larus atricilla)".Handbook of the Birds of the World.doi:10.2173/bow.laugul.01.S2CID 216445679.Retrieved29 October2018.

[4] "Laughing Gull Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology".www.allaboutbirds.org.Retrieved2020-09-25.

[5] Burger, Joanna (4 March 2020)."Laughing Gull (Larus atricilla)".Birds of the World.doi:10.2173/bow.laugul.01.S2CID 216445679.

[6] "Check-list of North American Birds".North American Classification Committee.American Ornithologists' Union.Retrieved2009-05-26.

[7] 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. Stot; K. J. Zimmer."A classification of the bird species of South America".South American Classification Committee.American Ornithologists' Union. Archived fromthe originalon 2009-03-02.Retrieved2009-05-26.

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v t e Gulls(family:Laridae)
Genus	Species(† indicates a species confirmed to be extinct)
Larus	Pacific gull Belcher's gull Olrog's gull Black-tailed gull Heermann's gull Common gull Short-billed gull Ring-billed gull California gull Great black-backed gull Kelp gull (or Cape gull) Glaucous-winged gull Western gull Yellow-footed gull Glaucous gull Iceland gull Thayer's gull European herring gull American herring gull Yellow-legged gull Caspian gull Vega gull (or East Siberian gull / Mongolian gull) Armenian gull Slaty-backed gull Lesser black-backed gull Heuglin's gull
Ichthyaetus	White-eyed gull Sooty gull Great black-headed gull (or Pallas's gull) Audouin's gull Mediterranean gull Relict gull
Leucophaeus	Dolphin gull Laughing gull Franklin's gull Lava gull Grey gull
Chroicocephalus	Silver gull Red-billed gull Huahine gull† Hartlaub's gull Brown-hooded gull Grey-headed gull (or grey-hooded gull) Andean gull Black-billed gull Brown-headed gull Black-headed gull Slender-billed gull Bonaparte's gull Saunders's gull
Hydrocoloeus	Little gull
Rhodostethia	Ross's gull
Rissa	Black-legged kittiwake Red-legged kittiwake
Pagophila	Ivory gull
Xema	Sabine's gull
Creagrus	Swallow-tailed gull
Gull eggs as food Hybridisation in gulls