BirdTab LogoBirdTab

Mediterranean Gull

Ichthyaetus melanocephalus

Least Concern (IUCN Red List)Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers
Mediterranean Gull, photographed by Alexis Lours

Photo: Alexis Lours · Wikimedia · CC-BY 4.0 (licence)

Add to my checklistRange map and sightings on eBird

Call and song

About the Mediterranean Gull

Medium-sized gull, slightly larger than Black-headed Gull, more similar to Common Gull in size and shape but bill stouter. Adult is distinctive, the only small gull with snow-white wingtips; breeding plumage has black hood. Nonbreeding and immature have distinctive, dark smudges behind each ear. Juvenile has mottled brownish back, which molts to pale gray by winter. Breeds in typically water-adjacent colonies scattered throughout Europe and Western Asia, often with Black-headed Gulls. Frequently found with flocks of other medium-sized gulls outside of the breeding season.

Species account: eBird.org, fetched 2025-12-26 · How these pages are made

Where it has been recorded

Recorded in 67 of the 253 countries we have eBird lists for. Each opens that country's checklist.

More gulls, terns, and skimmers