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The black-headed gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) is a small gull that breeds in much of the Palearctic in Europe and Asia, and also locally in smaller numbers in coastal eastern Canada. Most of the population is migratory and winters further south, but many also remain in the milder areas of northwestern Europe. It was formerly sometimes cited as "common black-headed gull" to distinguish it from "great black-headed gull" (an old name for Pallas's gull).
Black-headed gulls were among the birds most heavily hit by the 2023 avian influenza outbreak, with over 4,000 birds killed in Great Britain by early May; similarly high mortality rates were also reported from France, the Netherlands, Italy and Germany.
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The black-headed gull is a bold and opportunistic feeder. It eats insects, fish, seeds, worms, scraps, and carrion in towns, or invertebrates in ploughed fields with equal facility. It is a noisy species, especially in colonies, with a familiar "kree-ar" call.
It displays a variety of behaviour and adaptations. Some of these include removing eggshells from the nest after hatching, begging co-ordination between siblings, differences between sexes, conspecific brood parasitism, and extra-pair paternity. They are found in a variety of different habitats.
