The Laughing Gull is a coastal bird found from Nova Scotia to Venezuela. (Peterson, 1998) Except around the Salton Sea, the Laughing Gull is rarely found inland. (Scott, 1987) It also ranges from southeastern California to western Mexico, and winters as far north as southern United States to Venezuela. (Peterson, 1980)

Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native ); neotropical (Native )

occurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations

Canada

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

United States

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

Global Range: (>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)) 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.

As a juvenile, the Laughing Gull has a complete tail band, gray wash on the nape, dark brown wings, and a brown head and body. During its first winter, the Laughing Gull acquires a slate gray color on its back and sides, but keeps all other characteristics. A second summer bird has a partial hood and some spotting on the tail. As it approaches its second winter, the Laughing Gull looks similar to the second summer bird, except that it lacks a hood, and has gray wash on the sides of its breast. During breeding, the Laughing Gulls' plumage has a black hood, white under-parts, and slate gray wings with black outer primaries. (Scott, 1987)

Average mass: 275.6 g.

Length: 42 cm

Weight: 325 grams

• Terrestrial
• Freshwater
• Marine

Laughing Gulls prefer nesting on barrier beaches and estuarine islands with moderate to dense vegetation. (Arnold and Golder 1997)

Aquatic Biomes: coastal

Comments: 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).

Non-Migrant: Yes. At least some populations of this species do not make significant seasonal migrations. Juvenile dispersal is not considered a migration.

Locally Migrant: Yes. At least some populations of this species make local extended movements (generally less than 200 km) at particular times of the year (e.g., to breeding or wintering grounds, to hibernation sites).

Locally Migrant: Yes. At least some populations of this species make annual migrations of over 200 km.

Northern populations migratory. In Puerto Rico, common breeder but rare in winter except in San Juan Harbor (Raffaele 1983). In Costa Rica, migration mainly late September-November and early April to mid-May (Stiles and Skutch 1989).

The Laughing Gull has a highly varied diet. It is a carnivore as well as a scavenger. In the wild, it will eat insects, fish, shellfish, and crabs. (Patuxent Wildlife Center, 1998) They can get their food from the water while they are airborne by either skimming the surface or diving. (Patuxent Bird ID InfoCenter, 1998) The Laughing Gull is not the most efficient fisherman, and often steals food from pelicans or terns after they have made a catch. (Honolulu Zoo, 2000) The Laughing Gull also gets food from man-made sources such as garbage, sewage, refuse from fishing boats, and anything tossed to them by humans. (Patuxent Bird ID InfoCenter, 1998)

Comments: Eats small fishes caught at surface of water, worms in wet fields, garbage, and sometimes eggs and young of sea birds (Terres 1980); chases crabs on mudflats, hawks flying insects (Stiles and Skutch 1989). May pirate food from brown pelican.

Average lifespan

Status: wild: 238 months.

The Laughing Gull is a colonial breeder that may nest with other gulls or terns. Nests are found primarily along coastal bays, salt marshes, and estuaries. Sometimes they can be found near agricultural and industrial areas. Nests are five centimeters high and eight centimeters wide, and are constructed of sticks and grass. Laughing Gulls have a typical clutch consisting of one to three olive-brown eggs with dark brown spots. (Patuxent Bird ID InfoCenter, 1998) The length of incubation is 20 days, and the Laughing Gull takes 35 days to fledge. The Laughing Gull only has one brood per breeding season. (Patuxent Bird Population Studies, 1998)

Average time to hatching: 20 days.

Average eggs per season: 3.

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).

At one time, the Laughing Gull was hunted and killed for its fine plumage which was then used by milliners to make hats. Over the years, it has been protected, and is no longer threatened. (Snyder, 1998)

US Migratory Bird Act: protected

US Federal List: no special status

CITES: no special status

State of Michigan List: no special status

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: N1B,N4N : N1B: Critically Imperiled - Breeding, N4N: Apparently Secure - Nonbreeding

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: N5B,N5N : N5B: Secure - Breeding, N5N: Secure - Nonbreeding

Rounded Global Status Rank: G5 - Secure

Global Short Term Trend: Increase of 10 to >25%

Comments: Breeding populations in New England declined after the 1940s due mostly to increases in populations of herring and great black-backed gulls. Breeding population in Jamaica Bay (New York) increased greatly from 1979 to at least the mid-1980s; recent increases also have been recorded in New Jersey and the southeastern U.S. (Clapp and Buckley 1984). See Buckley and Buckley (1984) for information on populations in the eastern U.S. Breeding Bird Survey data indicate a significant increase in North America, 1966-1988 (Sauer and Droege 1992). In 1990, total U.S. breeding populaton was about 259,000, a small increase compared to the late 1970s; population increased substantially in the region extending from Maine to Virginia, probably due to increased food availability at landfills; gull control at JFK airport in New York apparently has had minimal effect on regional or national populations (Belant and Dolbeer 1993, which see for information for particular states). May be increasing as a breeder in northern Caribbean (van Halewyn and Norton 1984).

Comments: Pesticide use is a potential threat. For example, hundreds died near a cotton field treated with parathion (see Franson 1994).

Management Requirements: See Griffin and Hoopes (1992) for gull management recommendations for JFK International Airport in New York. Tens of thousands were killed at JFK in a gull management program in the early 1990s (Belant and Dolbeer 1993).

Laughing Gulls are often found near and around airports. Sometimes this can be dangerous not only to the bird, but to the planes trying to land and take off. At the JFK airport in New York, the Laughing Gull and other birds get sucked into the planes' engines, causing significant damage to the plane. Many methods have been tried in order to convince the gulls not to enter the airspace; noise cannons, intimidating pictures of predatory owls, and recordings of "distressed gulls," have all been used. As a last resort, sharpshooters were brought in to keep the Laughing Gulls away. In the summer of 1996, the airport's wildlife biologist had expert trainers fly falcons and hawks at the gulls. The point of this was to chase away the gulls and not to kill them. (Mittlebach and Crewsdon 1997)

Comments: Constitutes an aviation hazard at certain airports (Griffin and Hoopes 1992).

Species Impact: High populations could be harmful to tern species due to gull predation on eggs and small chicks (van Halewyn and Norton 1984).

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).