Laughing Gull
Leucophaeus atricilla
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Cordats)
- ClassAves (Aus)
- OrderCharadriiformes (Caradriformes)
- FamilyLaridae (Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers)
- GenusLeucophaeus (Hooded Gulls)
- SpeciesLeucophaeus atricilla (Laughing Gull)
The laughing gull (Leucophaeus atricilla) is a medium-sized gull of North and South America. Named from its laugh-like call, it is an opportunistic omnivore and scavenger. It breeds in large colonies mostly along the Atlantic coast of North America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. Two subspecies are accepted, L. a. atricilla, which occurs from the West Indies to the Venezuelan islands, and L. a. megalopterus, which occurs from southeast Canada down to Central America. Wikipedia →
10–20% of wildlife watchers report a Laughing Gull sighting in Main Ridge Forest Reserve, based on 41 days of visitor records from GBIF citizen-science data.
Closest Relatives at Main Ridge Forest Reserve
Common Tern
Sterna hirundo
Black-headed Gull
Chroicocephalus ridibundus
Sandwich Tern
Thalasseus sandvicensis
Royal Tern
Thalasseus maximus
Brown Noddy
Anous stolidus
Audouin's Gull
Ichthyaetus audouinii
Roseate Tern
Sterna dougallii
Southern Lapwing
Vanellus chilensis
Sanderling
Calidris alba
Spotted Sandpiper
Actitis macularius
Greater Yellowlegs
Tringa melanoleuca
Ruddy Turnstone
Arenaria interpres
📅 Monthly Probability
☀️ When They're Spotted
Most active during daytime hours (6am–6pm) · across all parks (global)
Global Distribution
Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.
where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there
Parks Where Found
Quick answers
What are the chances of seeing a Laughing Gull in Main Ridge Forest Reserve?
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Laughing Gull sighting in Main Ridge Forest Reserve, based on 41 days of visitor records from GBIF citizen-science data.
When is the best time to see Laughing Gull in Main Ridge Forest Reserve?
April has the highest sighting rate for Laughing Gull in Main Ridge Forest Reserve in our monthly data.