{{Short description|Species of bird}} {{Speciesbox | image = Larus melanocephalus aka Mediterranean Gull rare guest in Sweden2.jpg | image_caption = Breeding plumage | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name=iucn>{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |title=''Larus melanocephalus'' |errata=2015 |article-number=e.T22694443A85050054 |year=2012 |access-date=20 February 2022 }}</ref> | genus = Ichthyaetus | species = melanocephalus | authority = (Temminck, 1820) | synonyms = ''Larus melanocephalus'' | range_map = LarusMelanocephalus.png | range_map_caption = Range of ''I. melanocephalus''{{leftlegend|#008000|Breeding|outline=gray}} {{leftlegend|#00FF00|Resident|outline=gray}} {{leftlegend|#007FFF|Non-breeding|outline=gray}} }}
[[File:Adulte zwartkopmeeuw-4961969.webm|thumb|Adult and second-summer Mediterranean gulls, Den Hoorn, North Holland (2011)]]
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".<ref name=job>{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher= Christopher Helm | location = London | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages =[https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n224 224], 246}}</ref>
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''.
==Description== The Mediterranean gull is slightly larger and bulkier than the black-headed gull with a heavier bill and longer, darker legs. The breeding plumage adult is a distinctive white gull, with a very pale grey mantle and wings with white primary feathers without black tips. The black hood extends down the nape and shows distinct white eye crescents.<ref name=Peterson1967/> The sharp-tipped, parallel sided, dark red bill has a black subterminal band. The non breeding adult is similar but the hood is reduced to an extensive dusky "bandit" mask through the eye. This bird takes two years to reach maturity. First year birds have a black terminal tail band and more black areas in the upperwings, but have pale underwings.
<gallery mode = packed heights = 180px> Med gull southend.JPG|non-breeding plumage, UK Mediterranean gull (Ichthyaetus melanocephalus) non breeding in flight Vadu.jpg|non-breeding plumage, Romania Larus melanocephalus.jpg|breeding plumage, Ukraine </gallery>
==Distribution== Formerly restricted to the Black Sea and the eastern Mediterranean this species has now expanded over most of Europe as far as Great Britain and Ireland, with 37 sites: 543–592 pairs in the United Kingdom in 2008,<ref name=rbbp/> breeding in Scotland for the first time in 2023.<ref name = Short>{{cite journal |author=Daryl Short |year=2024 |title=Breeding Mediterranean Gills at Forvie NNR, Newburgh, Northeast Scotland 2023 |journal=Scottish Birds |volume=44 |issue=1 | pages=85–87}}</ref> In Ireland breeding has been recorded in at least four counties. Breeding has also occurred in Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and the Balkans.
In winter, this bird migrates to Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts.
==Ecology== [[File:Larus melanocephalus MWNH 0341.JPG|thumb|Eggs, Collection Museum Wiesbaden]] This gull breeds in colonies in large reed beds or marshes, or on islands in lakes; where its population is small, it nests in black-headed gull colonies. Like most gulls, it is highly gregarious in winter, both when feeding or in evening roosts. It is not a pelagic species, and is rarely seen at sea far from coasts.
The Mediterranean gull's feeding habits are much an opportunistic omnivore, eating fish, worms, insects, eggs, young birds, offal and carrion.
This is a noisy species, especially at colonies, with a nasal "yeah" call.
==Conservation== The Mediterranean gull is one of the species to which the ''Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds'' (AEWA) applies.
==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name=Peterson1967>{{Cite book |last1=Peterson |first1=R. |last2=Mountfort |first2=G. |last3=Hollom |first3=P.A.S. |year=1967 |title=A Field Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe |publisher=Collins}}</ref> <ref name=rbbp>{{cite journal |last=Holling |first=Mark |title=Rare breeding birds in the United Kingdom in 2008 |journal=British Birds |volume=103 |date=September 2010 |pages=482–538 |publisher=Rare Breeding Birds Panel |url=http://www.rbbp.org.uk/downloads/rbbp-report-2008.pdf |access-date=2012-02-26 |archive-date=2012-02-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219015953/http://www.rbbp.org.uk/downloads/rbbp-report-2008.pdf }}</ref> }} {{Refbegin}} {{Refend}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Ichthyaetus melanocephalus}} {{Wikispecies|Ichthyaetus melanocephalus}} * {{BirdLife|22694443|Larus melanocephalus}} * {{Avibase|name=Ichthyaetus melanocephalus}} * {{InternetBirdCollection|mediterranean-gull-larus-melanocephalus}} * {{VIREO|mediterranean+gull}} * {{IUCN_Map|22694443|Ichthyaetus melanocephalus}} * {{Xeno-canto species|Ichthyaetus|melanocephalus|Mediterranean gull}} * {{field guide birds of the world|Ichthyaetus melanocephalus}}
{{Gulls}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q276189}} {{Authority control}}
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Mediterranean gull Category:Birds of Europe Category:Birds of West Asia Mediterranean gull Category:Articles containing video clips Category:Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN Category:Taxa named by Coenraad Jacob Temminck