Black-headed Gull

Black-headed Gull

Chroicocephalus ridibundus

Silhouette: Hans Hillewaert · PhyloPic

Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Agra

In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%

54 Verified sightings at Agra
19,925 In all 26 parks From 2019 to 2026
November Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the 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". The black-headed gull was formally described in 1766 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae. He placed it with the other gulls in the genus Larus and coined the binomial name Larus ridibundus. Linnaeus specified the locality as Mari Europaeo or European seas.

Genetic studies published early in the 21st century showed that the genus Larus was paraphyletic with respect to other gull genera, and extensive changes to the taxonomy of gulls were made with many species of gull removed from Larus and transferred to other... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call0:33

Belgium · 2025

© Kelle Moreau · XC992784 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Recording0:51

Sweden · 2025

© Ulf Elman · XC987888 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Flight call0:51

France · 2023

© Olivier SWIFT · XC881963 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Wadden Sea National Park 🇩🇪 Germany
~70%
2 Camargue 🇫🇷 France
~70%
3 Hortobágy National Park 🇭🇺 Hungary
~70%
4 Kiskunság National Park 🇭🇺 Hungary
~60%
5 Fertő-Hanság National Park 🇭🇺 Hungary
~60%
6 Biebrza National Park 🇵🇱 Poland
~50%
7 Snowdonia National Park 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
~40%
8 Cairngorms National Park 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
~30%
9 Vatnajokull National Park 🇮🇸 Iceland
~30%
10 Sierra de Guadarrama National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
~30%
11 Bavarian Forest National Park 🇩🇪 Germany
~20%
12 Doñana National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
~20%
13 Białowieża National Park 🇵🇱 Poland
~20%
14 Lake Nakuru National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
~10%
15 Monfragüe National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
~10%
16 Gauja National Park 🇱🇻 Latvia
~10%
17 Svalbard 🇳🇴 Norway
<5%
18 Sundarbans National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%
19 Keoladeo National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%
20 Murchison Falls National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
<5%
21 Triglav National Park 🇸🇮 Slovenia
<5%
22 Kaziranga National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%
23 Satpura National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%
24 Chitwan National Park 🇳🇵 Nepal
<5%
25 Pyrénées National Park 🇫🇷 France
<5%
26 Ngorongoro Conservation Area 🇹🇿 Tanzania
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Liverpool 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
~80%
2 Copenhagen 🇩🇰 Denmark
~70%
3 Manchester 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
~70%
4 London 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
~60%
5 Leeds 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
~60%
6 Amsterdam 🇳🇱 Netherlands
~60%
7 Kyiv 🇺🇦 Ukraine
~60%
8 Warsaw 🇵🇱 Poland
~60%
9 Birmingham 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
~60%
10 Belgrade 🇷🇸 Serbia
~60%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 Zoo Pilsen 🇨🇿 Czechia In captivity
2 Ramat Gan Safari 🇮🇱 Israel In captivity
3 London Zoo 🇬🇧 United Kingdom In captivity
4 Pyrénées Animal Park 🇫🇷 France In captivity
5 Odesa Zoo 🇺🇦 Ukraine In captivity
6 Lake Biwa Museum 🇯🇵 Japan In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Black-headed Gull in Agra?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Black-headed Gull sighting in Agra on a given day, based on 54 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 61st most-seen of the 119 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Black-headed Gull in Agra?

November

In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Black-headed Gull in Agra on a given day, against under 5% in March–July and September, the lowest months. That is one of Agra's driest months, with about 5 mm of rain against 190 mm in July.

What time of day is best to see a Black-headed Gull?

Between noon and 3 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black-headed Gull sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Agra the best place to see a Black-headed Gull?

83rd of 130

Of the 130 cities where we can rate Black-headed Gull sightings, Agra ranks 83rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Liverpool (United Kingdom, about 80%), Copenhagen (Denmark, about 70%) and Manchester (United Kingdom, about 70%).

Where does the Black-headed Gull sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Black-headed Gull is recorded against all the birds logged in Agra (54 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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