{"id":1648,"date":"2010-12-17T12:31:42","date_gmt":"2010-12-17T18:31:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=1648"},"modified":"2025-07-13T07:31:23","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T12:31:23","slug":"laughing-gulls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/12\/17\/laughing-gulls\/","title":{"rendered":"Laughing Gulls"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"LaughingLaughing Gull portrait in breeding plumage – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/1250, ISO 160, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Laughing Gulls are quite common on the east and Gulf coastlines of the US, during breeding season they are usually found near saltwater but in nonbreeding season they are known to wander widely. I have yet to see one where I live in Utah but it wouldn’t surprise me much to see\u00a0a Laughing Gull here in amongst the Franklin’s Gulls.<\/p>\n

Photographers often pass up the opportunity to photograph gulls if there are other, shall we say more glamorous, species in the area but since I will photograph any and all species of birds I do have quite a few images I really like of Laughing Gulls.<\/p>\n

The Laughing Gull in breeding plumage above was very cooperative and posed for me with the sand of the beach and the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico behind it. Because of the contrasting white & dark plumage they can be a challenge to expose properly thus I found that photographing them in early morning, late afternoon or diffused light to works the best.<\/p>\n

\"LaughingLaughing Gull in nonbreeding plumage –\u00a0 Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/500, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Laughing Gulls in nonbreeding plumage lack the dark hood, the reddish bill and legs of birds in breeding plumage, additionally the red orbital ring also seems to be less pronounced or nonexistent in nonbreeding plumage. I like the snowy white head of the gull above.<\/p>\n

\"LaughingLaughing Gull in breeding plumage – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/750, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Any gull species photographed in beautiful light with\u00a0interesting habitats can produce visually\u00a0compelling images when the photographer uses vision and imagination. The common can become uncommonly appealing.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Laughing Gull photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Laughing Gulls are quite common on the east and Gulf coastlines of the US, during breeding season they are usually found near saltwater but in nonbreeding season they are known to wander widely.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":150271,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,25,704,188,2000],"tags":[4039,215,4053,5229,5132,3539,521,3997,3995,4160,4246,4046,4017,3996],"class_list":["post-1648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-laughing-gulls-gulls","category-pinellas-county-florida","tag-beach","tag-bird-id","tag-breeding-plumage","tag-coast","tag-coastal","tag-gull","tag-gulls","tag-lagoon","tag-laughing-gull","tag-leucophaeus-atricilla","tag-nonbreeding-plumage","tag-portrait","tag-sand","tag-water"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/laughing-gull-in-blue-mia-mcpherson-6732.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-qA","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14499,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/03\/04\/adult-and-juvenile-laughing-gulls\/","url_meta":{"origin":1648,"position":0},"title":"Adult and juvenile Laughing Gulls","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Laughing Gulls are commonly seen at Fort De Soto County Park but novices to birding and bird watching might think they are three different kinds of gulls depending on their age and plumage.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Flying adult Laughing Gull in breeding plumage, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/laughing-gull-adult-mia-mcpherson-2909.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/laughing-gull-adult-mia-mcpherson-2909.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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