Slender, medium-sized gull with long wings.
At a glance
Sounds
Range map
Range map
Aggregated occurance data is sourced from 14 different actively-updating datasets including eBird Australia, iNaturalist Australia, BirdLife Australia, and multiple state-based bird surveys through Atlas of Living Australia.
Species notes
Overview
Medium-gray upperparts. Breeding plumage shows black head with white eye arcs, small white spots on black wingtips, and deep red bill and legs. Nonbreeding plumage has smudgy gray cheek and dark bill and legs. Juveniles are browner with neat scaly pattern on upperparts. The most common black-hooded gull on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of North America; common in the Caribbean and on both coasts of Central America and northern South America. Almost exclusively coastal, especially on beaches and mudflats; rarely ventures far inland. Compare with Franklin’s Gull, which is slightly more compact and shorter-billed. Laughing also has narrower eye arcs and smaller white spots on wingtips.
Behavior
Named from its laugh-like call, it is an opportunistic omnivore and scavenger. The laughing gull's English name is derived from its raucous kee-agh call, which sounds like a high-pitched laugh "ha. .. ha. .. ha. .. ".
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