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Black-headed Gull
Chroicocephalus ridibundus
Silhouette: Hans Hillewaert · PhyloPic
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderCharadriiformes (Shorebirds and Allies)
- FamilyLaridae (Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers)
- GenusChroicocephalus (Masked Gulls and allies)
- SpeciesChroicocephalus ridibundus (Black-headed Gull)
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
29 Verified sightings at Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary From 2019 to 2026
20,473 In all 29 parks
January 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...
Recent sightings of Black-headed Gull in Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary
LIVEiNaturalistGlobal Distribution
Parks Where Found
Cities Where Found
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 2 | Copenhagen | 🇩🇰 Denmark | |
| 3 | Manchester | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 4 | London | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 5 | Leeds | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 6 | Amsterdam | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 7 | Kyiv | 🇺🇦 Ukraine | |
| 8 | Warsaw | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 9 | Birmingham | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 10 | Belgrade | 🇷🇸 Serbia |
Zoos & Centres Where Found
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zoo Pilsen | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 2 | Ramat Gan Safari | 🇮🇱 Israel | |
| 3 | London Zoo | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 4 | Pyrénées Animal Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 5 | Odesa Zoo | 🇺🇦 Ukraine | |
| 6 | Lake Biwa Museum | 🇯🇵 Japan |
Closest Relatives at Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary
Before you go
What are the chances of seeing a Black-headed Gull in Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary?
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Black-headed Gull sighting in Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary on a given day, based on 29 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 107th most-seen of the 173 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
When is the best time to see a Black-headed Gull in Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary?
January and March
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Black-headed Gull in Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary on a given day, against about 10% in April and November–December, the lowest months. Those are among Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary's driest months, with almost no rain against 55 mm in August. May to October have too few records to rate.
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 Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary the best place to see a Black-headed Gull?
14th of 29
Of the 29 parks where we can rate Black-headed Gull sightings, Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary ranks 14th at about 20%. The best odds are in Wadden Sea National Park (Germany, about 70%), Camargue (France, about 70%) and Hortobágy National Park (Hungary, about 70%). All parks ranked.
Which relatives of the Black-headed Gull live in Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary?
Same genus: Chroicocephalus
The closest relatives of the Black-headed Gull that you can see in Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary (genus Chroicocephalus, Masked Gulls and allies) are Slender-billed Gull (about 20%) and Grey-hooded Gull (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
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 Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary (29 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
