Black-headed gull
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
Black-headed gulls sometimes follow tractors in flocks on farmland.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Black-headed gull
- Scientific name
- Chroicocephalus ridibundus
- Japanese name
- ユリカモメ
- Group
- Birds
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Laridae
- Genus
- Chroicocephalus
Where the name “Black-headed gull” comes from
Its scientific name means “coloured head laughing gull,” referring to its plumage and call.
RSPBAround Tokyo, it arrives in late autumn from northeastern Siberia and Kamchatka and spends the time until spring in flocks on the bay and rivers.
Its plumage is white and its bill and legs are bright red. In the breeding season its head turns brown.
It eats all sorts of things, including small fish, water insects and worms.
How the Black-headed gull lives
In the UK, they can be seen inland throughout the year. Large flocks may gather where food is plentiful. They nest close together on the ground in dense vegetation.
RSPBBasic data
Where the Black-headed gull has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- ユリカモメ
- 简体中文
- 红嘴鸥
- 繁體中文
- 紅嘴鷗
- 한국어
- 붉은부리갈매기
- Español
- Gaviota reidora
- Français
- Mouette rieuse
- Deutsch
- Lachmöwe
- Português (Brasil)
- Guincho-comum
- Italiano
- Gabbiano comune
- العربية
- نورس أسود الرأس
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Camar perak
- Русский
- Озёрная чайка
- Türkçe
- Karabaş martı
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 東京都 — 都の紋章・花・木・鳥・歌Checked: 2026-11-03
- RSPB — Black-headed GullChecked: 2026-11-03
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
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