Laughing Gull

The Laughing Gull is the only hooded gull breeding in Virginia, readily identified in summer by its slaty-gray mantle, black hood, cherry-red bill, and the loud calls that give it its name. A sure sign of spring is the gathering of these migratory gulls, back from their wintering grounds in Central America and northern South America. They are abundant migrants and breeding residents on the coast, wandering upriver after the breeding season. Some Laughing Gulls now stick around as rare but increasing winter visitors in Virginia Beach (Rottenborn and Brinkley 2007).

By the early 20th century, Laughing Gulls were abundant after prior declines due to excessive egging, forming “one continuous chain” of colonies on the islands along the Atlantic Coast (Bailey 1913). Today, this species is the most abundant breeding seabird on the Atlantic Coast (Burger 2020), albeit one that has undergone recent declines.

Breeding Distribution

The Laughing Gull was well-covered during the Second Atlas by the 2018 Virginia Colonial Waterbird Survey, a coastal census conducted by the Center for Conservation Biology in collaboration with the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (VDWR) and The Nature Conservancy. The survey identifies nesting locations of this and other species that breed in colonies. Because the Laughing Gull only breeds within the survey area, there was no need to model its distribution. For information on where the species occurs in Virginia’s Coastal Plain, please see the Breeding Evidence section.

Breeding Evidence

Given the breeding biology of the species, the Laughing Gull is unlikely to have nested in blocks without confirmed breeding evidence (see Interpreting Species Accounts). Confirmation of breeding was based on records generated by the Virginia Colonial Waterbird Survey in 2018. Additional breeding confirmations were reported by Atlas volunteers in other years of the Second Atlas period.

Laughing Gulls were confirmed breeders in 17 blocks in three counties and one city (Norfolk) (Figure 1). On the Eastern Shore, colonies were restricted to Atlantic marshes from Assateague Island and the Chincoteague Causeway in Accomack County south to Fisherman Island in Northampton County. On the Western Shore of the Chesapeake, breeding was confirmed in tidal marshes of Mathews County and at the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (HRBT) island in Norfolk. The largest colonies of Laughing Gulls were found near Chincoteague and the HRBT (Watts et al. 2019).

Young birds were observed over a broader area, but such records were excluded or downgraded where post-breeding dispersal or foraging away from colonies could not be ruled out. Many reports of “recently fledged young” referred to dependent but flighted juveniles moving with adults.

The distribution of breeding sites was largely similar to that during the First Atlas (Figure 2). However, colony locations changed over time. For example, in 1992, after the First Atlas, Laughing Gulls re-colonized Fisherman Island after a ten-year absence (Williams et al. 1993). Despite a similar distribution, Laughing Gull numbers have declined sharply (see Population Status section).

During the Second Atlas, Laughing Gulls were observed on suspected nests as early as April 14, shortly after arrival. Only three observations of nests with young were made spanning from May 24 to June 27; eggs were observed from May 31 to July 29 (Figure 3). For more general information on the breeding habits of the Laughing Gull, please refer to All About Birds.

Figure 1: Laughing Gull breeding observations from the First Atlas (1985–1989). The colored boxes illustrate Atlas blocks (approximately 10 mi² [26 km²] survey units) where the species was detected. The colors show the highest breeding category recorded in a block. The numbers within the colors in the legend correspond to the number of blocks with that breeding evidence category. Nesting is unlikely outside of confirmed blocks.

Figure 2: Laughing Gull breeding observations from the First Atlas (1985–1989). The colored boxes illustrate Atlas blocks (approximately 10 mi² [26 km²] survey units) where the species was detected. The colors show the highest breeding category recorded in a block. The numbers within the colors in the legend correspond to the number of blocks with that breeding evidence category.

Figure 3: Laughing Gull phenology: confirmed breeding codes. This graph shows a timeline of confirmed breeding behaviors. Tick marks represent individual observations of the behavior.

Population Status

Laughing Gull had sufficient detections during the Atlas point count surveys to develop an abundance model. However, there was no need for such a model as the 2018 Virginia Colonial Waterbird Survey documented the location and size of all breeding colonies of this species. This information is displayed on the CCB Mapping Portal.

The Virginia Colonial Waterbird Surveys showed that population estimates for the survey region fell from 45,387 breeding pairs in 1993 to only 12,408 in 2023 (Watts et al. 2024; Figure 5). Colonies once thriving across marshes south of Wallops Island have collapsed, with losses exceeding 90% in some areas (Watts 2023b). Historic sites in the southern Seaside Region, including much of Northampton County, have been abandoned, and colonies near Chincoteague now show signs of stress (Watts et al. 2019).

Figure 5: Laughing Gull population trend for Virginia’s Coastal Plain. This chart illustrates the number of breeding pairs as estimated by the Virginia Colonial Waterbird Survey (Watts et al. 2024). A data point is not included for 1998, as the Survey covered a smaller geographic area in that year. The vertical light blue bars represent the periods corresponding to the First Atlas (1985–1989) and Second Atlas (2016–2020).

Conservation

Due to its population collapse, the Laughing Gull was first included in Virginia’s 2015 Wildlife Action Plan, and it is currently categorized as a Tier III (High Conservation Need) Species of Greatest Conservation Need in the 2025 Wildlife Action Plan (VDWR 2025). The rapid loss of marsh-nesting habitat due to sea-level rise and tidal inundation is the primary threat to Laughing Gulls (Watts et al. 2019, 2024; Watts 2023a). Remaining nesting sites are at the highest possible grounds left in marshes and in vegetated dunes on several barrier islands, but the rate of habitat loss is surpassing their ability to adapt. These changes mirror the pressures faced by other marsh-dependent species. Nesting success can also be lowered when there is predation by mammals, larger gulls, raptors, and corvids. The Laughing Gull is itself a nest predator; for example, in the Gulf of Maine, populations are culled to protect endangered terns (Burger 2020). There is also growing concern in Virginia that breeding terns, skimmers, and predatory gulls, including Laughing Gulls, are being forced to share dwindling breeding habitat; the impact of this new dynamic remains unknown.

One of Virginia’s largest single colony of Laughing Gulls was recently displaced when the Virginia Department of Transportation began a project to expand the HRBT, which is part of the I-64 corridor in the mouth of the James River. In 2020, the South Island HRBT expansion project took several aggressive measures to discourage seabirds from continuing to nest on South Island. These included paving over former nesting habitat and mounting round-the-clock patrols by trained border collies. The VDWR and partners were able to provide alternative habitat on the historic Fort Wool (also known as Rip Raps Island) and floating barges, which now provide temporary replacement habitat for multiple nesting seabird species, including Laughing Gulls (Sweeney et al. 2024).

Interactive Map

The interactive map contains up to six Atlas layers (probability of occurrence for the First and Second Atlases, change in probability of occurrence between Atlases, breeding evidence for the First and Second Atlases, and abundance for the Second Atlas) that can be viewed one at a time. To view an Atlas map layer, mouse over the layer box in the upper left. County lines and physiographic regional boundaries (Mountains and Valleys, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain) can be turned on and off by checking or unchecking the box below the layer box. Within the map window, users can hover on a block to see its value for each layer and pan and zoom to see roads, towns, and other features of interest that are visible beneath a selected layer.

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References