Laughing Gull

Laughing Gull (Leucophaeus atricilla) is a medium American gull with a black breeding hood, red bill, dark grey back and black wingtips. Body shape, bill structure, plumage pattern and voice provide the strongest field characters. Age, sex and season may alter its appearance, so identification should combine several features and careful direct comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It feeds opportunistically around beaches, estuaries and human settlements and nests in colonies on saltmarshes and islands. Its movements and social behaviour vary through the year, with breeding birds generally more dispersed and non-breeding birds gathering where food is concentrated. Japanese records place it within the country's documented avifauna as a resident, migrant or visitor (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Japan occurrence records).