Black-headed Gull

Black-headed Gull

Chroicocephalus ridibundus

Silhouette: Hans Hillewaert · PhyloPic

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Bangkok

In 3 days ~10%

214 Verified sightings at Bangkok
19,925 In all 26 parks From 2019 to 2026
December 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 Bangkok?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Black-headed Gull sighting in Bangkok on a given day, based on 214 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 127th most-seen of the 277 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.

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

December

In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Black-headed Gull in Bangkok on a given day, against under 5% in January to November, the lowest months. That is one of Bangkok's driest months, with about 10 mm of rain against 280 mm in September.

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 Bangkok the best place to see a Black-headed Gull?

115th of 130

Of the 130 cities where we can rate Black-headed Gull sightings, Bangkok ranks 115th at under 5%. 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 Bangkok (214 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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