Birds · La Saladita, Guerrero

Laughing Gull

Leucophaeus atricilla

Spanish: Gaviota guanaguanare

Laughing Gull (Leucophaeus atricilla)
Photographed by adriang100 on iNaturalist · CC-BY-NC

The laughing gull (Leucophaeus atricilla) is a medium-sized gull of North and South America. The genus name Leucophaeus is from Ancient Greek leukos, "white", and phaios, "dusky". The specific atricilla is from Latin ater, "black", and cilla, "tail". Linnaeus appears to have misread his note atricapilla (black-haired), which would have been much more appropriate for this black-headed, but white-tailed, bird.

TaxonomyAves › Charadriiformes › Laridae
Local records55 research-grade observations within about 50 km of La Saladita (the survey box also takes in Zihuatanejo, Ixtapa and Troncones)
Global records96,742 on iNaturalist
Most recent records2025 – 2026
Months of the 8 most recent records
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Recent local sightings

Interactive card with more photos, sounds and similar species Birds guide iNaturalist Wikipedia

Cite as: “Laughing Gull (Leucophaeus atricilla) at La Saladita”, La Saladita Field Guide, lasaladita.com/species/leucophaeus-atricilla/, updated 2026-09-26. Observation counts and months come from iNaturalist research-grade records within about 50 km of 17.8375°N, 101.7606°W (the survey box also takes in Zihuatanejo, Ixtapa and Troncones); summary text from Wikipedia where present.