Black-headed Gull

The black-headed gull is a small gull, 34–39cm long with a wingspan of 100–110cm and a weight of 166–400g. The summer adult's hood is actually chocolate brown, looking black only at a distance, with a white neck, underparts and tail, pale grey back and wings, black wing-tips and a red bill and legs. In winter the hood is lost, leaving two dark spots above and behind the eye. In flight the white leading edge of the outer wing is a good field mark. It takes two years to reach adult plumage (Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds across much of Europe and northern Asia, from Iceland to Japan, and locally in eastern Canada, with a global population of two to three million pairs. Most birds migrate south and west away from regions that freeze in winter, reaching northern Africa and southern Asia. Its scientific name means laughing. In India it is a winter migrant. SoIB 2023 estimates a long-term decline of about 70% and a current fall of about 6% a year, and rates it a High conservation priority (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).