Leucophaeus fuliginosus
Silhouette: Kai Caspar · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The lava gull (Leucophaeus fuliginosus), also known as the dusky gull, is a medium-sized gull and a member of the "hooded gull" group. It is most closely related to the Laughing gull and Franklin's gull and is the rarest gull in the world. It is endemic to the Galapagos Islands.
First described by John Gould in 1841 from a specimen collected on Santiago Island in the Galápagos. The species is sometimes placed in the genus Larus. It is possibly closely related to the laughing gull. The lava gull is a distinctive gull, 51 to 55 cm (20–22 in) and weighs 380 g (13 oz). The adult plumage consists of a sooty brown to black head, which unlike other dark hooded gulls doesn't vary by season. The wings are dark gray with a contrasting white line on the leading edge, thought to play a function in displays and camouflage. Its dark gray body contrasts with a paler gray belly. The uppertail is white and grey lower down. The bill and legs are black, and the inside of the mouth is scarlet. It has white upper and lower eyebrows, with red lids. Immature gulls are generally dark brown.
The entire population lives on the Galapagos Islands... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Galápagos Islands | 🇪🇨 Ecuador |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Lava Gull sighting in Galápagos Islands on a given day, based on 5,058 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 15th most-seen of the 114 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.
June and July
In those months about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Lava Gull in Galápagos Islands on a given day, against about 40% in August to May, the lowest months. Those are among Galápagos Islands's driest months, with almost no rain against 50 mm in March.
Between 3 and 6 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Lava 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.
Only Galápagos Islands, in our data
Galápagos Islands is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Lava Gull sightings: about 40% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Lava Gull is recorded against all the birds logged in Galápagos Islands (5,058 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.
