Chroicocephalus cirrocephalus
The Grey-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus cirrocephalus) is a medium-sized gull, measuring 38-42 cm in length with a wingspan of 100-110 cm and weighing between 220-350 grams. Its most distinctive feature is its head plumage, which transforms from a striking dark grey to sooty-brown hood with prominent white eye crescents during the breeding season, to a mostly white head with dusky streaking in its non-breeding phase and in juveniles. The body is predominantly white, contrasted by a pale grey ma...
This adaptable gull primarily inhabits a variety of freshwater and coastal wetlands, including estuaries, large lakes, rivers, and lagoons, often also frequenting agricultural fields at low elevations.
Primarily omnivorous, their diet consists of a wide array of insects, small fish, crustaceans, earthworms, small rodents, carrion, and refuse, often acquired through surface feeding or scavenging.
Grey-headed Gulls are diurnal and highly social birds, often forming large flocks for foraging and communal roosting, typically near water bodies. Their foraging strategy is highly opportunistic; they deftly pluck insects from the air or water surface, scavenge carrion, and are known to follow pl...
The Grey-headed Gull exhibits a remarkable disjunct global distribution, primarily spanning two continents: sub-Saharan Africa and eastern South America. In Africa, its breeding range extends widely from Mauritania and Senegal across to Sudan and Ethiopia, and south through East Africa to South A...
Least Concern
- The Grey-headed Gull is one of only two gull species found naturally in both Africa and South America. - Its scientific name, *cirrocephalus*, is derived from Latin and Greek, meaning 'curl-headed' or 'grey-headed,' referring to its distinctive plumage. - Unlike many gulls that stick to coastli...