Laughing Gull
The birds displayed on this post were photographed at different locations in Georgia and Florida.
The Laughing Gullis a medium-sized gull of North and South America. It breeds on the Atlantic coast of North America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. Northernmost populations migrate further south in winter, and this species occurs as a rare vagrant to western Europe.
Laughing Gull
The summer adult’s body is white apart from the dark grey back and wings and black head. Its wings are much darker grey than all other gulls of similar size except the smaller Franklin’s Gull, and they have black tips without the white crescent shown by Franklin’s. The beak is long and red. The black hood is mostly lost in winter.
Laughing Gulls take three years to reach adult plumage. Immature birds are always darker than most similar-sized gulls other than Franklin’s. First-year birds are grayer below and have paler heads than first-year Franklin’s, and second-years can be distinguished by the wing pattern and structure.
Laughing Gulls breed in coastal marshes and ponds in large colonies. The large nest, made largely from grasses, is constructed on the ground. The 3 or 4 greenish eggs are incubated for about three weeks. These are omnivores like most gulls, and they will scavenge as well as seeking suitable small prey.
Click on images to see enlargements
Text and photographs © H.J Ruiz – Avian 101
H.J. Ruiz - Avian101 
Beautiful photos – love the black heads. Do you know why they are called ‘laughing’ gulls?
These gull’s song and calls sound like laughter! 🙂 Thanks for the comment BD!
Love that second photo, his expression is great!
They always carry that indifference look! 🙂
I know, he’s like “Whatever, I’ll just hang out here”
Great photos! Bravo!
Bow, bow… Thank you! 🙂
Really does look like he is laughing 🙂
🙂
I was going to ask about the laughing but saw the other comments – how delightful!
Thank you Julie ! 🙂
I can hear them laughing now!
Ha, ha!
Love the sound of gulls, and they are always so comical with their loudness, thowing their heads back and telling the world! 🙂
It’s so typical to hear the gulls calls when you have a feature film with a bit of a sea in it. Even when you don’t see any around!
Thanks for letting me camp out in your blog for a little while. As usual, I had a great time and tried to leave my campsite as clean as when I arrived. I’ll be back!
Thank you again for your visit, I hope that you had a good time! 🙂
Reblogged this on Wolf's Birding and Bonsai Blog.