CreatureData

Laughing gull

Leucophaeus atricilla (Linnaeus, 1758)

Status not recordedbirds

The laughing gull (Leucophaeus atricilla) is a species in the family Laridae, order Charadriiformes. Recorded adults weigh 289 g to 317.2 g and live up to 19.8 years.

Laughing gull (Leucophaeus atricilla)
Photo: Cephas · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the laughing gull

Weight
289 g – 317.2 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Wingspan
1.03 m – 1.07 msrc for Wingspan
Lifespan
19.8 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
22 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
marinesrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
24 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
2.52src for Young per litter or clutch
Litters or clutches a year
1src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle
Aerialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Partialsrc for Migration
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
Not recorded

How big is the laughing gull?

LAUGHING GULL · WINGSPAN 1.07 MADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 1.07 m, the recorded maximum wingspan of the laughing gull is about 63% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Where does the laughing gull live?

Not recorded

What is the laughing gull?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The laughing gull (Leucophaeus atricilla) is a medium-sized gull of North and South America. Named from its laugh-like call, it is an opportunistic omnivore and scavenger. It breeds in large colonies mostly along the Atlantic coast of North America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. Two subspecies are accepted, L. a. atricilla, which occurs from the West Indies to the Venezuelan islands, and L. a. megalopterus, which occurs from southeast Canada down to Central America. The laughing gull was long placed in the genus Larus until its present placement in Leucophaeus.

From the Wikipedia article “Laughing gull” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Laughing_gull&oldid=1380690318), 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.

What does the laughing gull sound like?

Tony Phillips · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Is the laughing gull endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the laughing gull classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderCharadriiformes
  5. familyLaridae
  6. genusLeucophaeus
  7. SpeciesLeucophaeus atricilla (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms Atricilla catesbaei

Other names and names in other languages (68)
  • Black-headed gullEnglish
  • DavyEnglish
  • Laughing birdEnglish
  • نورس ضاحكArabic
  • Карибска чайкаBulgarian
  • Gouelan c'hoarzherBreton
  • Gouelan-c'hoarzherBreton
  • gavina capnegra americanaCatalan
  • racek karibskýCzech
  • racek atlantickýCzech
  • Gwylan ChwerthinogWelsh
  • Gwylanod ChwerthinogWelsh
  • LattermågeDanish
  • AztekenmöweGerman
  • ΑζτεκόγλαροςGreek
  • azteka mevoEsperanto
  • Amerika ridmevoEsperanto
  • Gaviota reidoraSpanish
  • Gaviota cabecinegraSpanish
  • Gaviota gallegaSpanish
  • Gaviota guanaguanareSpanish
  • Gaviota reidora americanaSpanish
  • GuanaguanareSpanish
  • randkajakasEstonian
  • کاکایی خندانPersian
  • nokisiipilokkiFinnish
  • LáturmásiFaroese
  • Goéland atricilleFrench
  • Mouette atricilleFrench
  • Sléibhín an gháireIrish
  • Faoileán cochallachIrish
  • Mauve à tête noiregcf
  • Foillan geareyScottish Gaelic
  • Gaivota chorona americanaGalician
  • OjajaGuarani
  • Mòv tèt nwaHaitian Creole
  • שחף צוחקHebrew
  • astečki galebCroatian
  • kacagó sirályHungarian
  • Camar tertawaIndonesian
  • HláturmáfurIcelandic
  • Gabbiano sghignazzanteItalian
  • ワライカモメJapanese
  • karibinis kirasLithuanian
  • acteku kaijaLatvian
  • Tónteel tsídii yidlohíNavajo
  • LachmeeuwDutch
  • Amerikaanse lachmeeuwDutch
  • lattermåseNorwegian Nynorsk
  • lattermåkeNorwegian
  • KahelaPapiamento
  • Kahela KomunPapiamento
  • Meuwchi HaridóPapiamento
  • mewa karaibskaPolish
  • gaivota-alegrePortuguese
  • gaivota-risonhaPortuguese
  • Ацтекская чайкаRussian
  • GožusoadjabáiskiNorthern Sami
  • čajka aztéckaSlovak
  • azteški galebSlovenian
  • Američki crnoglavi galebSerbian
  • sotvingad måsSwedish
  • amerikansk skrattmåsSwedish
  • Gülen MartıTurkish
  • мартин карибськийUkrainian
  • Mòng biển cườiVietnamese
  • 笑鷗Chinese
  • 笑鸥Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMS

Relatives of the laughing gull

Other species in the same genus Leucophaeus.

VU, Vulnerable
Lava gull (Leucophaeus fuliginosus)

Lava gull

Leucophaeus fuliginosus

Laridae

CompareLaughing gull vs Franklin's gullLaughing gull vs Lava gullLaughing gull vs Dolphin gullLaughing gull vs Grey gull

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the laughing gull?

An adult laughing gull weighs 289 g – 317.2 g and has a wingspan of 1.03 m – 1.07 m, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

How long does the laughing gull live?

The laughing gull has a recorded lifespan of 19.8 years.

What kind of animal is the laughing gull?

The laughing gull (Leucophaeus atricilla) belongs to the family Laridae in the order Charadriiformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Laughing gull (Leucophaeus atricilla). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/laughing-gull

MLA

“Laughing gull (Leucophaeus atricilla).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/laughing-gull.

BibTeX
@misc{laughing_gull_2026,
  title = {Laughing gull (Leucophaeus atricilla)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/laughing-gull},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}