Bird Sighting
Mediterranean Gull
Ichthyaetus melanocephalus · Laridae (Gulls and Terns)
15/01/2022 · Elton Hall Flash, Central area
- Date
- 15/01/2022
- Location
- Elton Hall Flash
- Recording area
- Central area
- Grid reference
- SJ 7246 5957
- Observer
- admin
Grid reference: SJ 7246 5957 53.13262, -2.41300 Open in OpenStreetMap
Mediterranean Gull in our records
- Records
- 6
- First recorded
- 03/01/2021
- Last recorded
- 22/02/2026
- Places
- Elton Hall Flash, Pump House Flash
Other recent records
About the Mediterranean Gull
The Mediterranean gull (Ichthyaetus melanocephalus) is a small gull. The scientific name is from Ancient Greek. The genus Ichthyaetus is from ikhthus, "fish", and aetos, "eagle", and the specific melanocephalus is from melas, "black", and -kephalos "-headed".
This gull breeds almost entirely in the Western Palearctic, mainly in the south east, especially around the Black Sea, and in central Turkey. There are colonies elsewhere in southern Europe, and this species has undergone a dramatic range expansion in recent decades. As is the case with many gulls, it has traditionally been placed in the genus Larus.
- Wingspan
- 96 cm
Martin Olsson (mnemo on en/sv wikipedia and commons, [email protected])., CC BY-SA 3.0 
Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0 
Aviceda, CC BY-SA 3.0 
Klaus Rassinger und Gerhard Cammerer, Museum Wiesbaden, CC BY-SA 3.0 
Yu Moskalenko, CC BY-SA 4.0
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Photos from Wikimedia Commons; click a credit for the photographer and licence. Read more on Wikipedia