Laughing Gull

Leucophaeus atricilla

KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
PhylumChordata (Chordates)
ClassAves (Birds)
OrderCharadriiformes (Shorebirds and Allies)
FamilyLaridae (Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers)
GenusLeucophaeus (Hooded Gulls)
SpeciesLeucophaeus atricilla (Laughing Gull)

Daily sighting probability Insufficient data

at Tikal National Park

2 Verified sightings at Tikal National Park From 2019 to 2026

13,994 Verified sightings across all 60 parks From 2019 to 2026

☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted during daytime hours (6am–6pm)

About the Laughing Gull

The laughing gull (Leucophaeus atricilla) is a medium-sized gull of North and South America. Named from its laugh-like call, it is an opportunistic omnivore and scavenger. It breeds in large colonies mostly along the Atlantic coast of North America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. Two subspecies are accepted, L. a. atricilla, which occurs from the West Indies to the Venezuelan islands, and L. a. megalopterus, which occurs from southeast Canada down to Central America. The laughing gull was long placed in the genus Larus until its present placement in Leucophaeus.

The laughing gull was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Larus atricilla. Linnaeus based his account on the "laughing gull" from the Bahamas that had been described and illustrated in 1729–1732 by the English naturalist Mark Catesby in his The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands. The laughing gull is now one of five New World gulls placed in the genus Leucophaeus that was introduced in 1855 by the German ornithologist Carl Friedrich Bruch. The genus name Leucophaeus is from Ancient... Wikipedia →

Closest Relatives at Tikal National Park

Thalasseus maximus

Daily sighting probability Insufficient data

Jacana spinosa

Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck

Actitis macularius

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare

Tringa solitaria

Daily sighting probability Insufficient data

Endemic

Himantopus mexicanus

Daily sighting probability Insufficient data

Calidris minutilla

Daily sighting probability Insufficient data

Global Distribution

Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.

where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there

Parks Where Found

#	Park	Country	Daily sighting probability
1	Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve	🇲🇽 Mexico	~80%
2	Celestún Biosphere Reserve	🇲🇽 Mexico	~70%
3	Everglades National Park	🇺🇸 United States	~20%
4	Ciénaga de Zapata	🇨🇺 Cuba	~20%
5	Biotopo Cerro Cahuí	🇬🇹 Guatemala	~20%
6	Utría National Natural Park	🇨🇴 Colombia	~20%
7	Acadia National Park	🇺🇸 United States	~10%
8	Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park	🇲🇽 Mexico	~10%
9	Cabo Blanco Absolute Nature Reserve	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	~10%
10	Jaragua National Park	🇩🇴 Dominican Republic	~10%
11	Tortuguero National Park	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	~10%
12	Isla del Coco National Park	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	~10%
13	Machalilla National Park	🇪🇨 Ecuador	~10%
14	Coiba National Park	🇵🇦 Panama	~10%
15	Bastimentos Island National Marine Park	🇵🇦 Panama	~10%
16	Main Ridge Forest Reserve	🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago	~10%
17	Paracas National Reserve	🇵🇪 Peru	~10%
18	Santa Rosa National Park	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	~10%
19	Las Baulas Marine National Park	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	~10%
20	El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve	🇲🇽 Mexico	~10%
21	La Amistad International Park (Panama)	🇵🇦 Panama	~10%
22	Lago de Yojoa	🇭🇳 Honduras	<5%
23	Cahuita National Park	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	<5%
24	Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve	🇲🇽 Mexico	<5%
25	Galápagos Islands	🇪🇨 Ecuador	<5%
26	Marino Ballena National Park	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	<5%
27	Ostional Wildlife Refuge	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	<5%
28	Piedras Blancas National Park	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	<5%
29	Corcovado National Park	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	<5%
30	Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	<5%
31	Cerro Azul Meámbar National Park	🇭🇳 Honduras	<5%
32	Soberanía National Park	🇵🇦 Panama	<5%
33	Palo Verde National Park	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	<5%
34	Bahía de Loreto National Park	🇲🇽 Mexico	<5%
35	Big Cypress National Preserve	🇺🇸 United States	<5%
36	Darién National Park	🇵🇦 Panama	<5%
37	Tayrona National Natural Park	🇨🇴 Colombia	<5%
38	Manuel Antonio National Park	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	<5%
39	Carara National Park	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	<5%
40	Yasuní National Park	🇪🇨 Ecuador	<5%
41	Arenal Volcano National Park	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	<5%
42	Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve	🇪🇨 Ecuador	<5%
43	Channel Islands National Park	🇺🇸 United States	<5%
44	Cape Breton Highlands National Park	🇨🇦 Canada	Insufficient data
45	San Lorenzo Protected Forest	🇵🇦 Panama	Insufficient data
46	Cabo Pulmo National Park	🇲🇽 Mexico	Insufficient data
47	Riding Mountain National Park	🇨🇦 Canada	Insufficient data
48	Caroni Swamp	🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago	Insufficient data
49	Henri Pittier National Park	🇻🇪 Venezuela	Insufficient data
50	Calakmul Biosphere Reserve	🇲🇽 Mexico	Insufficient data
51	Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park	🇯🇲 Jamaica	Insufficient data
52	Parque Natural Metropolitano	🇵🇦 Panama	Insufficient data
53	Chagres National Park	🇵🇦 Panama	Insufficient data
54	Cañón del Sumidero National Park	🇲🇽 Mexico	Insufficient data
55	Cajas National Park	🇪🇨 Ecuador	Insufficient data
56	Tikal National Park	🇬🇹 Guatemala	Insufficient data
57	Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve	🇲🇽 Mexico	Insufficient data
58	Redwood National Park	🇺🇸 United States	Insufficient data
59	Farallones de Cali National Natural Park	🇨🇴 Colombia	Insufficient data
60	Point Pelee National Park	🇨🇦 Canada	Insufficient data

← Back to Tikal National Park

Laughing Gull

About the Laughing Gull

Closest Relatives at Tikal National Park

Royal Tern

Northern Jacana

Spotted Sandpiper

Solitary Sandpiper

Black-necked Stilt

Least Sandpiper

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found