CreatureData

Sooty gull

Ichthyaetus hemprichii (Bruch, 1855)

LCLeast Concernbirds

The sooty gull (Ichthyaetus hemprichii) is a species in the family Laridae, order Charadriiformes. Recorded adults weigh 400 g to 510 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Sooty gull (Ichthyaetus hemprichii)
Photo: williamstephens56 · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the sooty gull

Weight
400 g – 510 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Wingspan
1.05 m – 1.18 msrc for Wingspan
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Omnivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
marinesrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
2.42src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

How big is the sooty gull?

SOOTY GULL · WINGSPAN 1.18 MADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 1.18 m, the recorded maximum wingspan of the sooty gull is about 69% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Where does the sooty gull live?

Not recorded

What is the sooty gull?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The sooty gull (Ichthyaetus hemprichii) is a species of gull in the family Laridae, also known as the Aden gull or Hemprich's gull. It is found in Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, India, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Maldives, Mozambique, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. As is the case with many gulls, it has traditionally been placed in the genus Larus. The sooty gull is named in honour of the German naturalist Wilhelm Hemprich who died in 1825 while on a scientific expedition to Egypt and the Middle East with his friend Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg.

From the Wikipedia article “Sooty gull” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sooty_gull&oldid=1315196519), 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 sooty gull endangered?

The sooty gull is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). See all Least Concern species.

How is the sooty gull classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderCharadriiformes
  5. familyLaridae
  6. genusIchthyaetus
  7. SpeciesIchthyaetus hemprichii (Bruch, 1855)

Synonyms Larus hemprichii

Other names and names in other languages (49)
  • Aden gullEnglish
  • Hemprich's gullEnglish
  • SOGUEnglish
  • نورس عدنArabic
  • نورس أسحمArabic
  • نورس أسخمArabic
  • نورس فاحمArabic
  • نورس هامبرجArabic
  • Саждена чайкаBulgarian
  • gavià de HemprichCatalan
  • racek arabskýCzech
  • Sodfarvet MågeDanish
  • HemprichmöweGerman
  • fulga mevoEsperanto
  • Gaviota cejiblancaSpanish
  • nõgikajakasEstonian
  • کاکایی دودیPersian
  • nokilokkiFinnish
  • Goéland de HemprichFrench
  • Faoileán súicheachIrish
  • Foillan sooieaghScottish Gaelic
  • שחף כההHebrew
  • Garavi galebCroatian
  • tamnoprsi galebCroatian
  • füstös sirályHungarian
  • Ադենյան որորArmenian
  • BrúnmáfurIcelandic
  • Gabbiano dal collareItalian
  • Gabbiano di HemprichItalian
  • ススケカモメJapanese
  • adeninis kirasLithuanian
  • tumšā kaijaLatvian
  • Hemprichs MeeuwDutch
  • sotmåkeNorwegian
  • mewa przydymionaPolish
  • gaivota-fuliginosaPortuguese
  • Аденская чайкаRussian
  • GožuskávliNorthern Sami
  • čajka HemprichovaSlovak
  • čadasti galebSlovenian
  • Čađavi galebSerbian
  • Чађави галебSerbian
  • sotmåsSwedish
  • Shakwe kijivucheusiSwahili
  • นกนางนวลสีเทาดำThai
  • Arabistan MartısıTurkish
  • мартин аденськийUkrainian
  • 煙黑鷗Chinese
  • 白领鸥Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidata

Relatives of the sooty gull

Other species in the same genus Ichthyaetus.

CompareSooty gull vs Mediterranean gullSooty gull vs Pallas's gullSooty gull vs Audouin's gullSooty gull vs White-eyed gull

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the sooty gull?

An adult sooty gull weighs 400 g – 510 g and has a wingspan of 1.05 m – 1.18 m, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the sooty gull endangered?

The sooty gull is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the sooty gull?

The sooty gull (Ichthyaetus hemprichii) 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). Sooty gull (Ichthyaetus hemprichii). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/sooty-gull

MLA

“Sooty gull (Ichthyaetus hemprichii).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/sooty-gull.

BibTeX
@misc{sooty_gull_2026,
  title = {Sooty gull (Ichthyaetus hemprichii)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/sooty-gull},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}