Black-headed gull

Black-headed gull
Adult summer plumage. Colony sounds, Suffolk, England
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Charadriiformes
Family:	Laridae
Genus:	Chroicocephalus
Species:	C. ridibundus
Binomial name
Chroicocephalus ridibundus (Linnaeus, 1766)
Range of C. ridibundus   Year-Round Range   Summer Range   Winter Range
Synonyms
Larus ridibundus

The black-headed gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) is a small gull that breeds in much of Europe and Asia, and also in coastal eastern Canada. Most of the population is migratory and winters further south, but some birds reside in the milder westernmost areas of Europe. Some black-headed gulls also spend the winter in northeastern North America, where it was formerly known as the common black-headed gull. As is the case with many gulls, it was previously placed in the genus Larus.

Description

This gull is 38–44 cm (15–17 in) long with a 94–105 cm (37–41 in) wingspan. In flight, the white leading edge to the wing is a good field mark. The summer adult has a chocolate-brown head (not black, although does look black from a distance), pale grey body, black tips to the primary wing feathers, and red bill and legs. The hood is lost in winter, leaving just 2 dark spots. It breeds in colonies in large reed beds or marshes, or on islands in lakes, nesting on the ground. Like most gulls, it is highly gregarious in winter, both when feeding or in evening roosts. It is not a pelagic species and is rarely seen at sea far from coasts.

The black-headed gull is a bold and opportunistic feeder. It eats insects, fish, seeds, worms, scraps, and carrion in towns, or invertebrates in ploughed fields with equal relish. It is a noisy species, especially in colonies, with a familiar "kree-ar" call. Its scientific name means laughing gull.

This species takes two years to reach maturity. First-year birds have a black terminal tail band, more dark areas in the wings, and, in summer, a less fully developed dark hood. Like most gulls, black-headed gulls are long-lived birds, with a maximum age of at least 32.9 years recorded in the wild, in addition to an anecdote now believed of dubious authenticity regarding a 63-year-old bird.

In popular culture

• The character of Kehaar from Watership Down is a black-headed gull.

Uses

Eggs, Collection Museum Wiesbaden, Germany

The eggs of the black-headed gull are considered a delicacy by some in the UK and are eaten hard boiled.

Australian discovery

In the 1990s, local Broome birder Brian Kane saw a strange species of bird while trawling the local sewer ponds. Upon seeing this bird, he called one of his many bird-watcher friends to verify the species, who confirmed that it was indeed a black-headed gull. This was the first recorded sighting of the species in Australia.

Gallery

• 
  Adult winter plumage in St James's Park, London
• 
  Adult breeding plumage
• 
  Adult summer plumage, North Devon coast, England
• 
  Juvenile plumage
• 
  Adult with juvenile
• Adult summer plumage, Oslo, Norway
  Adult summer plumage, Oslo, Norway
• 
  Adult summer plumage, Pangong Tso
• 
  In flight
• 
  Juvenile at Farmoor Reservoir, Oxfordshire
• 
  At Farmoor Reservoir, Oxfordshire
• 
  At Farmoor Reservoir, Oxfordshire
• 
  In Baku, Azerbaijan
• 
  First winter plumage, at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire
• 
  ID composite
• 
  in flight near Großenbrode, Schleswig-Holstein. The bird is in a near-vertical position.

References

• Harrison, P. (1987). Seabirds of the World. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-01551-1.
• Dunn, J.L.; Alderfer, J. (2006). National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America. National Geographic Society. ISBN 0-7922-6877-6.
• Pons, J.M.; Hassanin, A.; Crochet, P.A. (2005). "Phylogenetic relationships within the Laridae (Charadriiformes: Aves) inferred from mitochondrial markers". Molecular phylogenetics and evolution. 37 (3): 686–699. PMID 16054399.

External links

• Black-headed gull stamps from many countries at bird-stamps.org
• Ageing and sexing (PDF; 2.0 MB) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze
• Feathers of Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus) at Ornithos.de
• BirdLife species factsheet for Larus ridibundus
• "Chroicocephalus ridibundus". Avibase.
• "Common black-headed gull media". Internet Bird Collection.
• Black-headed gull photo gallery at VIREO (Drexel University)
• Interactive range map of Larus ridibundus at IUCN Red List maps
• Audio recordings of Black-headed gull on Xeno-canto.
• Chroicocephalus ridibundus in Field Guide: Birds of the World on Flickr
• Black-headed gull media from ARKive