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Physical Appearance
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Laughing gulls on a beach. Young laughing gulls are brown and gray. Adults have long dark legs and white necks and chests. In the winter, the adults have white heads with blackish-gray patches. During the breeding season, the laughing gull's head is completely black. Their wing tips are black with very little, if any, white on them. These birds have a wingspan of 36 to 47 inches.
Diet
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Laughing gulls enjoy crabs and other crustaceans found along the shore. The laughing gull is carnivorous and a scavenger. They eat as they walk along the ground pecking at small insects and earthworms. They are also able to catch flying insects while flying. These birds eat squid, crabs, crab eggs, small fish, garbage, berries and human food. Laughing gulls can also steal food from the beaks of other birds, such as pelicans.
Habitat
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Atlantic Ocean Laughing gulls are found all along the coastal lands of North America. They regularly wander inland during the winter months to find food and warm shelter. They are a social bird and have very little fear of humans. During the breeding season, laughing gulls can be seen along the sands of barrier beaches. These birds are often found at airports and have been known to get stuck in plane engines.
Breeding
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Male and female laughing gulls both take part in building a nest. Nests are built in colonies of up to 25,000 couples. Nesting colonies are usually built on islands with very few, if any, predators living on them. Females lay a clutch of two to four eggs, and chicks hatch from the eggs in 20 days. As each egg hatches, one of the adults removes it from the nest to make space for the others.
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Facts About Laughing Gulls
Laughing gulls (Larus atricilla) are a medium-size gull species with a height of around 16 or 17 inches. They greatly resemble the Franklin gull, which is a smaller breed of gull. This bird was nearly extinct in the late 19th century but has successfully repopulated due to effective governmental protection.