Mediterranean gull
Ichthyaetus melanocephalus (Temminck, 1820)
Status not recordedbirds
The mediterranean gull (Ichthyaetus melanocephalus) is a bird in the family Laridae and the order Charadriiformes. It is a small bird with an adult body mass of 256 g and a wingspan of 96 cm.
Quick facts about the mediterranean gull
It is a partially migratory omnivore of coastal habitats, with a trophic level of carnivore and a geographic range of 250,500 km². It lays 3 eggs per clutch, one clutch per year, incubates them for 24 days and reaches sexual maturity at 2.9 years.
- Weight
- 256 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 96 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 15 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Omnivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 22.1 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- coastalsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 24 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2.4 – 3src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 2.74 years – 3 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Generalistsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Partialsrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the mediterranean gull?
Photos of the mediterranean gull
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the mediterranean gull live?
Not recorded
What is the mediterranean gull?
The Mediterranean gull (Ichthyaetus melanocephalus) is a small gull. The scientific name is from Ancient Greek. The genus Ichthyaetus is from ikhthus, "fish", and aetos, "eagle", and the specific melanocephalus is from melas, "black", and -kephalos "-headed".
This gull breeds almost entirely in the Western Palearctic, mainly in the south east, especially around the Black Sea, and in central Turkey. There are colonies elsewhere in southern Europe, and this species has undergone a dramatic range expansion in recent decades. As is the case with many gulls, it has traditionally been placed in the genus Larus.
From the Wikipedia article “Mediterranean gull” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mediterranean_gull&oldid=1315069134), 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 mediterranean 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 mediterranean gull classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderCharadriiformes
- familyLaridae
- genusIchthyaetus
- SpeciesIchthyaetus melanocephalus (Temminck, 1820)
Synonyms Larus caniceps, Larus melanocephalus, Larus melanocephalus melanocephalus
Other names and names in other languages (70)
- MEGUEnglish
- نورس البحر المتوسطArabic
- Gavilueta Tiesta PrietaAsturian
- Aralıq dənizi qağayısıAzerbaijani
- Чайка чорнагаловаяBelarusian
- Чорнагаловая чайкаBelarusian
- Малка черноглава чайкаBulgarian
- Gouelanig penn duBreton
- Ar gouelanig penn duBreton
- Gavina capnegraCatalan
- gavina capnegra mediterràniaCatalan
- Мӱлӓндӹ лоштыш тангыж колшӹреMari
- racek černohlavýCzech
- gwylan Môr y CanoldirWelsh
- Gwylanod Môr y CanoldirWelsh
- sorthovedet mågeDanish
- SchwarzkopfmöweGerman
- Μαυροκέφαλος γλάροςGreek
- ΣκυλοκούταβοςGreek
- nigrakapa mevoEsperanto
- Gaviota cabecinegraSpanish
- karbuskajakasEstonian
- karbuskajakas e. mustpea-kajakasEstonian
- Antxeta burubeltzaBasque
- کاکایی مدیترانه ایPersian
- mustanmerenlokkiFinnish
- Høvuðsvartur másiFaroese
- Høvu›svartur másiFaroese
- Goéland mélanocéphaleFrench
- Mouette mélanocéphaleFrench
- Sléibhín meánmhuiríIrish
- Foillan FrangaghScottish Gaelic
- Gaivota cabecinegraGalician
- Muetta dal chau nairManx
- שחף שחור ראשHebrew
- שחף שחור-ראשHebrew
- szerecsensirályHungarian
- Որոր սևագլուխArmenian
- Սևագլուխ որորArmenian
- LónamáfurIcelandic
- gabbiano corallinoItalian
- ニシズグロカモメJapanese
- შავთავა თოლიაGeorgian
- Қарабас шағалаKazakh
- SchwaarzkappméiwLuxembourgish
- juodagalvis kirasLithuanian
- melngalvas kaijaLatvian
- црноглав галебMacedonian
- медитерански галебMacedonian
- Gawwija Rasha SewdaMaltese
- zwartkopmeeuwDutch
- svartehavsmåseNorwegian Nynorsk
- svartehavsmåkeNorwegian
- mewa czarnogłowaPolish
- gaivota-de-cabeça-pretaPortuguese
- Pescăruş cu cap negruRomanian
- pescăruşul cu cap negruRomanian
- черноголовая чайкаRussian
- ČáhppesmearabáiskiNorthern Sami
- čajka čiernohlaváSlovak
- črnoglavi galebSlovenian
- pulëbardha kokëzezëAlbanian
- црноглави галебSerbian
- Crnoglavi galebSerbian
- crnoglavi galeb - Црноглави галебSerbian
- svarthuvad måsSwedish
- Akdeniz martısıTurkish
- Мартин середземноморськийUkrainian
- 黑頭鷗Chinese
- 地中海鸥Chinese
Relatives of the mediterranean gull
Other species in the same genus Ichthyaetus.
Pallas's gull
Ichthyaetus ichthyaetus
Audouin's gull
Ichthyaetus audouinii
Sooty gull
Ichthyaetus hemprichii
White-eyed gull
Ichthyaetus leucophthalmus
Relict gull
Ichthyaetus relictus
CompareMediterranean gull vs Pallas's gullMediterranean gull vs Audouin's gullMediterranean gull vs Sooty gullMediterranean gull vs White-eyed 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 mediterranean gull?
The mediterranean gull is a bird in the family Laridae, order Charadriiformes.
How big is the mediterranean gull?
It has an adult body mass of 256 g and a wingspan of 96 cm, which places it in the small size class.
What does the mediterranean gull eat?
Its diet category is omnivore, and its trophic level is listed as carnivore.
How long does the mediterranean gull live?
Its lifespan is 15 years, with values up to 22 years reported by sources.
How many eggs does the mediterranean gull lay?
It lays 3 eggs per clutch and has 1 clutch per year, with an incubation period of 24 days.
When does the mediterranean gull reach sexual maturity?
It reaches sexual maturity at 2.9 years, with reported values from 2.7 to 3.0 years.
Is the mediterranean gull migratory?
Yes, it is partially migratory, and its habitat is coastal.
Who named the mediterranean gull?
The scientific name Ichthyaetus melanocephalus carries the authority (Temminck, 1820).
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). Mediterranean gull (Ichthyaetus melanocephalus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/mediterranean-gull
“Mediterranean gull (Ichthyaetus melanocephalus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/mediterranean-gull.
@misc{mediterranean_gull_2026,
title = {Mediterranean gull (Ichthyaetus melanocephalus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/mediterranean-gull},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}