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Leucophaeus atricilla

Linnaeus, 1758

Laughing Gull

G5Secure Found in 1 roadless area NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.101747
Element CodeABNNM03010
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassAves
OrderCharadriiformes
FamilyLaridae
GenusLeucophaeus
Synonyms
Larus atricillaLinnaeus, 1758
Other Common Names
Gaivota-Alegre (PT) Gaviota Reidora (ES) laughing gull (EN) Mouette atricille (FR)
Concept Reference
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
Taxonomic Comments
Formerly included in Larus but separated on the basis of genetic data (Pons et al., 2005) that indicate that the genus would be paraphyletic if the following species were included: L. modestus, L. atricilla and L. pipixcan (AOU, 2008).
Conservation Status
Rank MethodExpertise without calculation
Review Date2016-04-09
Change Date1996-11-27
Edition Date1988-04-21
Range Extent>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)
Range Extent Comments
BREEDS: Pacific coast in Sonora and Sinaloa; Atlantic-Gulf-Caribbean region from southern New Brunswick (formerly) and southern Nova Scotia (formerly) south locally to Florida, west to southern Texas, through West Indies (major concentration on islands east of Puerto Rico, through Anegada Island) to northern coast of South America. Largest concentration in Florida is in the Tampa Bay area. Outside Florida, most of the U.S. Gulf Coast nesting population is in Texas, the rest in Louisiana. See Spendelow and Patton (1988) for further details. Formerly nested in southern California at the southern end of Salton Sea. Attempted nesting at western Lake Erie in 1984. Has not nested in eastern Canada since the early 1960s (see Belant and Dolbeer 1993). NORTHERN WINTER: Pacific coast from southern Mexico to northern Peru; North Carolina and Gulf Coast south to northern South America (Colombia to Amazon delta); casual in Hawaii.
Threat Impact Comments
Pesticide use is a potential threat. For example, hundreds died near a cotton field treated with parathion (see Franson 1994).
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

BREEDING: Seacoasts, bays, estuaries, rarely on large inland bodies of water (AOU 1983). Choice of nest site flexible; in different areas may nest on salt marshes (New Jersey), dunes, beaches, shell and shingle ridges of coast and offshore islands, on ground in tall herbage or weeds, or among bushes (Puerto Rico) (Harrison 1978, Burger and Gochfield 1985). Along the northern Atlantic coast south to Massachusetts, nests usually on rocky islands in areas of dense AMMOPHILA and LATHYRUS or under and around MYRICA bushes. From New York to Virginia, nests almost exclusively on tidal salt marshes on or near mats of dead vegetation in tall grasses just above high-tide line. Farther south on Atlantic and Gulf coasts, nests on mats of SPARTINA or, more often, in drier areas on spoil islands or next to clumps of low vegetation in low swales between dunes. In extreme southern Florida, small colonies nest in interior sections of keys on open marl flats or among low herbaceous plants (Spendelow and Patton 1988). NON-BREEDING: Large flocks rest on salt-pond dikes and sandspits (Costa Rica, Stiles and Skutch 1989).

Reproduction

Lays clutch of 3-4 eggs, May-July (mostly June) in Virginia, April-June in Louisiana and Texas, May-June in Puerto Rico. Incubation lasts 20-23 days. Young are tended by both parents, first fly at 4-6 weeks? Tends to nest in large dense colony (sometimes 10,000s).
Terrestrial Habitats
Sand/duneCropland/hedgerow
Other Nations (2)
CanadaN1B,NUM
ProvinceRankNative
QuebecSNAYes
New BrunswickS1BYes
OntarioSNAYes
Nova ScotiaSHBYes
United StatesN5B,N5N
ProvinceRankNative
GeorgiaS5Yes
CaliforniaS1Yes
AlabamaS5Yes
PennsylvaniaSNAYes
North CarolinaS4BYes
NebraskaSNRNYes
TexasS5Yes
MaineS2BYes
KentuckySNAYes
South CarolinaS5BYes
OklahomaS1NYes
DelawareS2BYes
District of ColumbiaS3NYes
New HampshireSNAYes
FloridaS4Yes
MichiganSNRNYes
IndianaSNAYes
New JerseyS5B,S5NYes
IllinoisSNAYes
MississippiS1B,S5NYes
Rhode IslandSNAYes
VirginiaS3Yes
MassachusettsS2BYes
LouisianaS5Yes
ConnecticutSNAYes
New YorkS1Yes
TennesseeS3NYes
MarylandS1BYes
Roadless Areas (1)
Idaho (1)
AreaForestAcres
Bear CreekCaribou-Targhee National Forest118,582
References (36)
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  3. Belant, J. L., and R. A. Dolbeer. 1993. Population status of nesting laughing gulls in the United States 1977-1991. Am. Birds 47:220-224.
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