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  1. Species
  2. ›
  3. Laridae
  4. ›
  5. Chroicocephalus
  6. ›
  7. Black-headed Gull
Black-headed Gull
Photo · (c) Donna Belder, some rights reserved (CC BY)

BirdUp · Species

Black-headed Gull

Chroicocephalus ridibundus(Linnaeus, 1766)

Updated 21 March 2026

Origin: Native
Order
CHARADRIIFORMES
Family
Laridae
Genus
Chroicocephalus

At a glance

The Black-headed Gull, native to Australia. It can be seen year-round.

Origin
Native
Best seen
Year-round
Commonness
Common
  • Identification
  • Where
  • When

01 · Identification

How to tell it apart

The black-headed gull is a small gull that breeds in much of the Palearctic in Europe and Asia, and also locally in smaller numbers in coastal eastern Canada. Most of the population is migratory and winters further south, but many also remain in the milder areas of northwestern Europe. It was formerly sometimes cited as "common black-headed gull" to distinguish it from "great black-headed gull".

Description · wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

03 · When

When to look

When can you see a Black-headed Gull?

The Black-headed Gull is present across its Australian range year-round, so it can be seen in any month.

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec

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02 · Where

Where to find it

Where does the Black-headed Gull live in Australia?

The Black-headed Gull is native to Australia, recorded across 5 of Australia’s bioregions.

BreedingCoastal far south Greenland, inland Iceland, temperate and subarctic west Europe across Russia to Yakutsk region, Kamchatka, Sakhalin (east Russia); in south through Caspian Sea, north Central Asia, north and central Mongolia and north-east China; also west-central Newfoundland (south-east Canada)

Non-breedingAF, IO, OR : to coasts and offshore waters of north Atlantic Canada, south-east Greenland, North Sea and west Atlantic to Mediterranean and marginal seas; to Canary Is. and west-central Africa; Arabian Sea and associated gulfs, north Indian Ocean; west North Pacific coasts from Japan to south-east China and Philippines; also inland in parts of Africa, Indian Subcontinent and south-east Asia

Distribution from BirdUp Australia community data

Legend

  • Vagrant
  • Breeding

4 regions recorded