Ichthyaetus ichthyaetus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10%
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 |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Pallas's Gull sighting in Ranthambore National Park on a given day, based on 30 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 190th most-seen of the 251 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Pallas's Gull in Ranthambore National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January to November, the lowest months. That is one of Ranthambore National Park's driest months, with about 10 mm of rain against 270 mm in August.
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.
Among the best
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Pallas's Gull sightings, Ranthambore National Park ranks 2nd at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Chitwan National Park (Nepal, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Pallas's Gull is recorded against all the birds logged in Ranthambore National Park (30 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.
