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Chroicocephalus

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Chroicocephalus
Black-headed gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Laridae
Genus: Chroicocephalus
Eyton, 1836
Type species
Larus capistratus[1] = Larus ridibundus
Temminck, 1820
Species

See list

Chroicocephalus is a genus of medium to relatively small gulls which were included in the genus Larus until genetic evidence published in 2005 showed that Larus as then constituted was paraphyletic.[2] Ten species are currently accepted.[3] An eleventh, Saunders's gull, was included until a 2022 study demonstrated that it did not belong in Chroicocephalus; it is now treated in its own genus Saundersilarus.[4] The genus name Chroicocephalus is from Ancient Greek khroizo, "to colour", and kephale, "head".[5]

The species range from 28 cm up to 48 cm long, with Bonaparte's gull being the smallest, and Andean gull the largest. In all species, the body and tail are white, and the upperwing pale grey; the wingtips have distinct grey, white, and black patterns important for identification. Several have distinctively brown, pale grey, or blackish-grey coloured heads in the breeding season, but some also have the head pure white like the rest of the body. The eyes are dark in some species, or with a distinctive white iris in others; the legs and bills are bright to very dark red.[6]

Representatives of this genus are found in regions/subregions all over the world, except for Antarctica; the species are often parapatric, but with two species together in New Zealand, the Mediterranean region, parts of southern Africa, and parts of South America. Exceptionally, three species (black-headed, brown-headed, and slender-billed gulls) can occur together in parts of southwest Asia.[6]

Species

[edit]
Genus Chroicocephalus – Eyton, 1836 – ten species
Common name Scientific name and subspecies Range Size and ecology IUCN status and estimated population
Slender-billed gull

Chroicocephalus genei
(Breme, 1839) 		the Mediterranean and the north of the western Indian Ocean
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Bonaparte's gull

Chroicocephalus philadelphia
(Ord, 1815) 		northern North America
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Silver gull

Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae
(Stephens, 1826)

Three subspecies
 Australia, New Caledonia, Loyalty Islands, Tasmania, New Zealand Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Black-billed gull

Chroicocephalus bulleri
(Hutton, 1871) 		New Zealand Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 NT 


Andean gull

Chroicocephalus serranus
(Tschudi, 1844) 		Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Brown-hooded gull

Chroicocephalus maculipennis
(Lichtenstein, MHC, 1823) 		Argentina, Brazil, Chile, the Falkland Islands, and Uruguay
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Black-headed gull

Chroicocephalus ridibundus
(Linnaeus, 1766) 		Palearctic including Europe and also in coastal eastern Canada.
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Brown-headed gull

Chroicocephalus brunnicephalus
(Jerdon, 1840) 		Tajikistan to Ordos in Inner Mongolia. Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Grey-headed gull

Chroicocephalus cirrocephalus
(Vieillot, 1818)

Two subspecies
  • C. c. cirrocephalus (Vieillot, 1818) – South America
  • C. c. poiocephalus (Swainson, 1837) – Africa
South America and Africa south of the Sahara.
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Hartlaub's gull

Chroicocephalus hartlaubii
(Bruch, 1855) 		coastline of South Africa and Namibia. Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 



Fossils

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Laridae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
  2. ^ Pons J.M.; Hassanin, A.; Crochet P.A. (2005). "Phylogenetic relationships within the Laridae (Charadriiformes: Aves) inferred from mitochondrial markers" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics & Evolution. 37 (3): 686–699. Bibcode:2005MolPE..37..686P. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2005.05.011. PMID 16054399. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-08-09. Retrieved 2017-01-10.
  3. ^ "Noddies, skimmers, gulls, terns, skuas, auks – IOC World Bird List". IOC World Bird List – Version 14.2. 2024-08-17. Retrieved 2025-01-14.
  4. ^ Černý, David; Natale, Rossy (2022). "Comprehensive taxon sampling and vetted fossils help clarify the time tree of shorebirds (Aves, Charadriiformes)" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 177: 107620. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107620. Retrieved 2025-01-13.
  5. ^ Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 104. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  6. ^ a b Hoyo, Josep del (2020). All the birds of the world. Barcelona: Lynx edicions. ISBN 978-84-16728-37-4.
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