Black-headed Gull
Chroicocephalus ridibundus
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Cordats)
- ClassAves (Aus)
- OrderCharadriiformes (Caradriformes)
- FamilyLaridae (Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers)
- GenusChroicocephalus (Masked Gulls and allies)
- SpeciesChroicocephalus ridibundus (Black-headed Gull)
The black-headed gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) is a small gull that breeds in much of the Palearctic in Europe and Asia, and also locally in smaller numbers in coastal eastern Canada. Most of the population is migratory and winters further south, but many also remain in the milder areas of northwestern Europe. It was formerly sometimes cited as "common black-headed gull" to distinguish it from "great black-headed gull" (an old name for Pallas's gull). The genus name Chroicocephalus is from the Ancient Greek words khroizo, "to colour", and kephale, "head". The specific name ridibundus is Latin for "laughing". Wikipedia →
Closest Relatives at Point Pelee National Park
Bonaparte's Gull
Chroicocephalus philadelphia
Ring-billed Gull
Larus delawarensis
American Herring Gull
Larus smithsonianus
Common Tern
Sterna hirundo
Great Black-backed Gull
Larus marinus
Black Tern
Chlidonias niger
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Larus fuscus
Caspian Tern
Hydroprogne caspia
Forster's Tern
Sterna forsteri
Little Gull
Hydrocoloeus minutus
Black-legged Kittiwake
Rissa tridactyla
Iceland Gull
Larus glaucoides
📅 Monthly Probability
Fewer than 5 records of Black-headed Gull at Point Pelee National Park — not enough to chart months honestly.
☀️ 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