Leucophaeus modestus
Silhouette: Kai Caspar · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
The grey gull, also known as garuma gull (Leucophaeus modestus), is a medium-sized gull native to South America. Unusual among gulls, it breeds inland in the extremely dry Atacama Desert in northern Chile, although it is present as a non-breeding bird along much of the Pacific coast of South America.
The sexes are similar in grey gulls. Adults grow to a length of about 45 cm (18 in) and weigh some 360 to 400 g (13 to 14 oz). The head is white in summer but brownish-grey in winter. The body and wings are grey with the dorsal surface rather darker than the ventral region. The flight feathers are black and the inner primaries and the secondaries have white tips, visible in flight. The tail has a band of black with a white trailing edge. The legs and beak are black and the iris is brown. The call is similar to that of the laughing gull (Leucophaeus atricilla).
The grey gull breeds inland in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. Its non-breeding range includes Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Chile, and it has been recorded in the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It is a vagrant to Panama and Florida; an earlier report... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Celestún Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 2 | Galápagos Islands | 🇪🇨 Ecuador |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lima | 🇵🇪 Peru |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tierpark Berlin | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 2 | Bronx Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Brookfield Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Sedgwick County Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Hellabrunn Zoo | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 6 | Oregon Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Tierpark Schlichtweg 15 in München | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 8 | Zoo Schlichtweg 11 in München | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 9 | Zoo Siebenbrunner Straße 6 in München | 🇩🇪 Germany |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Grey Gull sighting in Galápagos Islands on a given day, based on 38 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 91st most-seen of the 114 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Grey Gull in Galápagos Islands on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Grey Gull sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 2
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Grey Gull sightings, Galápagos Islands ranks 2nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Celestún Biosphere Reserve (Mexico, about 20%).
Same genus: Leucophaeus
The closest relatives of the Grey Gull that you can see in Galápagos Islands (genus Leucophaeus, Hooded Gulls) are Lava Gull (about 40%) and Franklin's Gull (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Grey Gull is recorded against all the birds logged in Galápagos Islands (38 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.
