Caspian gull
Larus cachinnans Pallas, 1811
The caspian gull (Larus cachinnans) is a bird of the family Laridae in the order Charadriiformes, also called the Pontic gull, Yellow-legged gull, Pontic yellow-legged gull or Steppe yellow-legged gull. It is a medium-sized bird with an adult body mass of 1.112 kg and a wingspan of 1.41 m.
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Quick facts about the caspian gull
The caspian gull is a migratory omnivore of coastal habitats with a generalist lifestyle and a geographic range of 1,660,000 km². It lays 2.6 eggs per clutch, one clutch per year, incubates them for 26 days, and is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
- Weight
- 1.02 kg – 1.28 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 1.37 m – 1.45 msrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 32.1 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Omnivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 49 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- coastalsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 26 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2.4 – 2.6src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 4 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Generalistsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the caspian gull?
Photos of the caspian gull
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the caspian gull live?
Not recorded
What is the caspian gull?
The Caspian gull (Larus cachinnans) is a large gull and a member of the herring and lesser black-backed gull complex. The scientific name is from Latin. Larus appears to have referred to a gull or other large seabird, and cachinnans means 'laughing', from cachinnare 'to laugh'.
From the Wikipedia article “Caspian gull” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Caspian_gull&oldid=1375723505), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the caspian gull endangered?
The caspian gull is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the caspian gull classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderCharadriiformes
- familyLaridae
- genusLarus
- SpeciesLarus cachinnans Pallas, 1811
Synonyms Larus argentatus cachinnans, Larus cachinnans cachinnans
Other names and names in other languages (106)
- Pontic gullEnglish
- Pontic gullEnglish
- Pontic yellow-legged gullEnglish
- Steppe yellow-legged gullEnglish
- Yellow-legged gullEnglish
- نورس قزوينيArabic
- نورس قوقازيArabic
- GaviluetaAsturian
- Gümüşü qağayıAzerbaijani
- Чайка-рагатухаBelarusian
- Жълтокрака чайкаBulgarian
- Каспийска жълтонога чайкаBulgarian
- হলদেপা গাঙচিলBangla
- Gouelan gris KaspiaBreton
- Gouelan gris ar c'hreisteizBreton
- Gavià caspiCatalan
- gavià del CaspiCatalan
- Атӑл йыттиChuvash
- racek bělohlavýCzech
- Gwylan BontaiddWelsh
- LevantmågeDanish
- Kaspisk mågeDanish
- SteppenmöweGerman
- WeisskopfmöweGerman
- Κασπικός ΓλάροςGreek
- Ασημόγλαρος της ΚασπίαςGreek
- kaspia mevoEsperanto
- Kaspia arĝentmevoEsperanto
- Gaviota del CaspioSpanish
- gaviota patiamarillaSpanish
- koldjalg-hõbekajakasEstonian
- Kaio hankahoriBasque
- کاکایی خزریPersian
- aroharmaalokkiFinnish
- aroharmaalokki (valkopäälokki)Finnish
- ValkopäälokkiFinnish
- Goéland pontiqueFrench
- goéland leucophéeFrench
- Pontyske SulvermiuwWestern Frisian
- Faoileán CaspachIrish
- Faoileán gáiriteachIrish
- Foillan CaspaghScottish Gaelic
- Gaivota do CaspioGalician
- שחף כוזריHebrew
- pontski galebCroatian
- Galeb klaukavacCroatian
- sztyeppi sirályHungarian
- Որոր քրքջանArmenian
- KlapparmáfurIcelandic
- ÓsamáfurIcelandic
- gabbiano realeItalian
- Gabbiano del CaspioItalian
- Gabbiano reale ponticoItalian
- カスピアカモメJapanese
- カスピセグロカモメJapanese
- キアシセグロカモメJapanese
- კასპიური თოლიაGeorgian
- ვერცხლისფერი თოლიაGeorgian
- Улуғ хайлахkjn
- ЄгізшағалаKazakh
- ӨгізшагалаKazakh
- 카스피해갈매기Korean
- SteppeméiwLuxembourgish
- kaspijinis kirasLithuanian
- Kaspijas kaijaLatvian
- касписки галебMacedonian
- Сребренаст галебMacedonian
- കാസ്പിയൻ കടൽക്കാക്കMalayalam
- Gawwija PrimaMaltese
- Бархираа цахлайMongolian
- Bilį́į́ʼ Ńdeiltihii Dineʼé Bikéyahdę́ę́ʼ tónteel tsídiiNavajo
- Pontische meeuwDutch
- KaspimåseNorwegian Nynorsk
- KaspimåkeNorwegian
- mewa białogłowaPolish
- کیسپین گلWestern Panjabi
- gaivota-do-cáspioPortuguese
- Muetta d'argient mediterranaRomansh
- Pescăruş ponticRomanian
- pescăruşul argintiuRomanian
- хохотуньяRussian
- Степная чайкаRussian
- каспийская чайкаRussian
- KáspiaskávliNorthern Sami
- čajka bielohlaváSlovak
- črnomorski galebSlovenian
- rumenonogi galebSlovenian
- pulëbardhaAlbanian
- pulëbardha këmbëverdhëAlbanian
- Sinji galebSerbian
- Сињи галебSerbian
- Kaspisk trutSwedish
- นกนางนวลขาเหลืองThai
- นกนางนวลแคสเปียนThai
- gümüş martıTurkish
- Hazar MartısıTurkish
- kümüş martıTurkish
- Каттырар ак-кускунTuvinian
- Мартин жовтоногийUkrainian
- MartinazzoVenetian
- Mòng biển CaspiVietnamese
- גרױמאַנטלדיקע מײװYiddish
- 里海银鸥Chinese
- 裡海銀鷗〔黃腳銀鷗，蒙古銀鷗〕Chinese
- 黃腳銀鷗Chinese
- 黄腿银鸥Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the caspian gull
Other species in the same genus Larus.
European herring gull
Larus argentatus
Common gull
Larus canus
Lesser black-backed gull
Larus fuscus
Great black-backed gull
Larus marinus
Glaucous gull
Larus hyperboreus
Yellow-legged gull
Larus michahellis
CompareCaspian gull vs European herring gullCaspian gull vs Common gullCaspian gull vs Lesser black-backed gullCaspian gull vs Great black-backed gull
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the caspian gull?
The caspian gull is a bird of the family Laridae, in the order Charadriiformes and the genus Larus.
How big is the caspian gull?
The caspian gull has an adult body mass of 1.112 kg and a wingspan of 1.41 m. Reported wingspans run from 1.37 to 1.45 m.
What does the caspian gull eat?
The caspian gull is an omnivore, and its trophic level is listed as carnivore.
Where does the caspian gull live?
The caspian gull lives in coastal habitats and is migratory, with a geographic range of 1,660,000 km².
Is the caspian gull endangered?
No. The caspian gull is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does the caspian gull live?
The caspian gull has a lifespan of up to 49 years in the values reported by our sources.
How many eggs does the caspian gull lay?
The caspian gull lays 2.6 eggs per clutch and one clutch per year, with an incubation period of 26 days. It reaches sexual maturity at 4 years.
Who named the caspian gull?
The caspian gull, Larus cachinnans, was named by Pallas, 1811.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Caspian gull (Larus cachinnans). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/caspian-gull
“Caspian gull (Larus cachinnans).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/caspian-gull.
@misc{caspian_gull_2026,
title = {Caspian gull (Larus cachinnans)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/caspian-gull},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}