Laughing gull
{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Leucophaeus atricilla Caye Caulker 04.JPG
| image_caption =
| image2 = Larus atricilla.ogg
| image2_caption = Call
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Leucophaeus
| species = atricilla
| authority = (Linnaeus, 1758)
| synonyms = Larus atricilla {{small|Linnaeus, 1758}}
| range_map = Leucophaeus atricilla map.svg
| range_map_caption = geographical range
{{leftlegend|#FF7F2A| breeding|outline=gray}}{{leftlegend|#7137C8| year-round|outline=gray}}{{leftlegend|#5F8DD3| nonbreeding|outline=gray}}
}}
The laughing seagull (Leucophaeus atricilla) is a medium-sized gull of North and South America. Named for 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. The two subspecies are L. a. megalopterus — which can be seen from southeast Canada down to Central America — and L. a. atricilla, which appears from the West Indies to the Venezuelan islands. The laughing seagull was long placed in the genus Larus until its present placement in Leucophaeus.
Taxonomy
The laughing seagull was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Larus atricilla.{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1758 | title= Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | volume=1 | edition=10th | page=136 | publisher=Laurentii Salvii | location=Holmiae (Stockholm) | language=Latin | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727041 }} Linnaeus based his account on the "laughing gull" from the Bahamas that had been described and illustrated in 1729–1732 by the English naturalist Mark Catesby in his The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands. The laughing gull is now one of five New World gulls placed in the genus Leucophaeus that was introduced in 1855 by the German ornithologist Carl Friedrich Bruch.{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela C. Rasmussen | date=December 2023 | title=Noddies, gulls, terns, skimmers, skuas, auks | work=IOC World Bird List Version 14.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/gulls/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=19 July 2024 }} The genus name Leucophaeus is from Ancient Greek leukos meaning "white" and phaios meaning "dusky". The specific epithet atricilla combines Latin ater meaning "black" with Modern Latin cilla meaning "tail". It is possible that Linnaeus intended to write atricapilla meaning "black-headed".{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages=[https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n224/mode/1up 224], [https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n59/mode/1up 59]}}
Like most other members of the genus Leucophaeus, the laughing gull was long placed in the genus Larus. It was moved to the resurrected genus Leucophaeus based on a 2005 molecular phylogenetic study that found that inclusion in Larus made that genus paraphyletic.{{Cite journal | last1=Pons | first1=J.-M. | last2=Hassanin | first2=A. | last3=Crochet | first3=P.-A. | date=2005 | title=Phylogenetic relationships within the Laridae (Charadriiformes: Aves) inferred from mitochondrial markers | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=37 | issue=3 | pages=686–699 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2005.05.011| pmid=16054399 | bibcode=2005MolPE..37..686P }}{{Cite journal | last1=Banks | first1=R.C. | last2=Chesser | first2=R.T. | last3=Cicero | first3=C. | last4=Dunn | first4=J.L. | last5=Kratter | first5=A.W. | last6=Lovette | first6=I.J. | last7=Rasmussen | first7=P.C. | last8=Remsen | first8=J.V. | last9=Rising | first9=J.D. | last10=Stotz | first10=D.F. | last11=Winker | first11=K. | date=2008 | title=Forty-Ninth Supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-List of North American Birds | journal=The Auk | volume=125 | issue=3 | pages=758–768 | doi=10.1525/auk.2008.9708 | doi-access=free| bibcode=2008Auk...125..756B }}
Two subspecies are recognised. They are listed below with their breeding ranges.
| class="wikitable " | ||
| Image | Subspecies | Distribution |
|---|---|---|
| 120px | L. a. megalopterus (Bruch, 1855) | islands off west North Atlantic coast of southeast Canada (sporadic or formerly), Maine to Florida, Gulf of Mexico to south Texas, Salton Sea (southeast California; formerly), Gulf of California to Colima |
| 120px | L. a. atricilla (Linnaeus, 1758) | West Indies, islands off Yucatán Peninsula, islands north of Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago and to French Guiana |
Description
This species is {{convert|36|–|41|cm|in|abbr=on}} long with a {{convert|98|–|110|cm|in|abbr=on}} wingspan and a weight range{{Cite web |title= Laughing Gull Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology |url= https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Laughing_Gull/id|access-date=2020-09-25|website=www.allaboutbirds.org|language=en}} of {{convert|203|–|371|g|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 smaller Franklin's gull, and they have black tips without the white crescent shown by Franklin's. The beak is 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.
Distribution and habitat
It breeds on the Atlantic coast of North America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. Northernmost populations migrate farther south in winter, and this species occurs as a rare vagrant to western Europe. The laughing seagull's English name is derived from its raucous kee-agh call, which sounds like a high-pitched laugh "ha... ha... ha...".
Behaviour
=Breeding=
Laughing seagulls nest from mid to late May in the north of their range and from late April in the south. They nest in colonies which vary in size from a few pairs to 25,000. The nest site is usually on low lying coastal islands. The nest is built by both sexes from available vegetation. The clutch is usually three eggs which are incubated by both parents for 22-27 days. The chicks normally remain near to the nest for the first 5 days. They are fed and brooded by both parents. The young can fly when they are around 40 days old.{{cite journal | last=Burger | first=Joanna | date=2020 | title=Laughing seagull (Leucophaeus atricilla), version 1.0 | editor-last=Rodewald | editor-first=P.G. | journal=Birds of the World | location=Ithaca, NY, USA | publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology | doi=10.2173/bow.laugul.01 | url=https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.laugul.01 | access-date=20 July 2024 | url-access=subscription }}
Gallery
Larus atricilla MWNH 0343.JPG|Egg, Collection Museum Wiesbaden
Laughing Gull - mating plumage.jpg|Mating plumage includes black head and red bill
Larus atricilla1.jpg|Definitive alternate plumage
Flying Laughing Gull.jpg|Adult in mid-May (definitive alternate plumage)
Laughing-gull.jpg|Laughing gull, alternate plumage, North Carolina, US, 2016
Laughing Gulls on sand.jpg|Adult in winter (definitive basic plumage)
Laughing Gull juvenile.jpg|Juvenile
Laughing gull St Thomas.JPG|Adult at St. Thomas, Virgin Islands (definitive alternate plumage)
Laughing gull Porthmadog.jpg|Vagrant in definitive basic plumage in the UK in late 2005
Guanaguanre (Larus atricilla) de los Roques Venezuela 000.jpg|At Los Roques, Venezuela
Laughing gull (02914).jpg|First winter laughing gull in Riverhead, New York
Caneel Bay Seagulls By Caneel Beach 09, crop.jpg|Adult in breeding plumage, American Virgin Islands
Caneel Bay Seagulls By Caneel Beach 18, crop.jpg|Adult in breeding plumage, American Virgin Islands
Caneel Bay Seagulls By Caneel Beach 15, crop.jpg|Preparing to land on beach, American Virgin Islands
Trim.F419E503-74D1-4BE4-90FA-31A0C888E761.webm|Laughing gulls following a shrimp boat off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Leucophaeus atricilla|Laughing gull}}
{{Wikispecies|Leucophaeus atricilla}}
- [http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i0580id.html Laughing Gull - Larus atricilla] - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
- [http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Laughing_Gull.html Laughing Gull Species Account] - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- [https://www.flickr.com/groups/birdguide/pool/tags/Larus%20atricilla Field Guide on Flickr]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20061201113702/http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/wwwsounds/birds/hardy18sh.wav Laughing Gull Bird Sound] at Florida Museum of Natural History
- {{InternetBirdCollection|laughing-gull-larus-atricilla|Laughing Gull}}
- {{VIREO|Laughing+Gull|Laughing Gull}}
- {{IUCN_Map|22694455|Leucophaeus atricilla}}
{{Gulls}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q528764}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Native birds of the Northeastern United States
Category:Native birds of the Eastern United States
Category:Native birds of the Southeastern United States
Category:Birds of Central America
Category:Birds of the Caribbean