Ichthyaetus ichthyaetus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
Pallas's gull (Ichthyaetus ichthyaetus), also known as the great black-headed gull, is a large bird species. As is the case with many gulls, it has traditionally been placed in the genus Larus. The scientific name is from Ancient Greek. Ichthyaetus is from ikhthus, "fish", and aetos, "eagle".
This species breeds in colonies in marshes and islands from southern Russia to Mongolia. It is migratory, wintering in the eastern Mediterranean, Arabia and India. This gull nests on the ground, laying between two and four eggs.
It occurs in western Europe only as a vagrant. In Great Britain a recent review left a single occurrence in 1859 as the only acceptable record of this bird. The species also occurs as a vagrant in differing parts of the Indian Ocean, south of its normal range, and along the northern and eastern coasts of Africa, where it visits annually on an irregular basis.
This is a very large gull, being easily the world's largest black-headed gull and the third largest species of gull in the world, after the great black-backed gull and the glaucous gull. It measures 55–72 cm (22–28 in) in length with a 142 to 170 cm (56 to 67 in) wingspan. Weight... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chitwan National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 2 | Ranthambore National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Sundarbans National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Keoladeo National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lanzhou | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 2 | Novosibirsk | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 3 | Kuwait City | 🇰🇼 Kuwait | |
| 4 | Jaipur | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Yekaterinburg | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 6 | Tel Aviv | 🇮🇱 Israel | |
| 7 | Agra | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Ponnani | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 9 | Abu Dhabi | 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates | |
| 10 | Kochi | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Moscow Zoo | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 2 | 西宁野生动物园 | 🇨🇳 China |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Pallas's Gull sighting in Lanzhou on a given day, based on 26 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 9th most-seen of the 44 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February and December
In those months about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Pallas's Gull in Lanzhou on a given day, against about 20% in May, July and September, the lowest months. Those are among Lanzhou's driest months, with almost no rain against 85 mm in August. March and October–November have too few records to rate.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Pallas's 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.
Yes
Of the 17 cities where we can rate Pallas's Gull sightings, Lanzhou has the highest daily chance: about 40%. Next come Novosibirsk (Russia, about 10%) and Kuwait City (Kuwait, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Pallas's Gull is recorded against all the birds logged in Lanzhou (26 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.
