{"id":39116,"date":"2016-05-02T05:38:49","date_gmt":"2016-05-02T11:38:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=39116"},"modified":"2025-07-13T08:38:07","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T13:38:07","slug":"franklins-gull-and-laughing-gull-comparison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/05\/02\/franklins-gull-and-laughing-gull-comparison\/","title":{"rendered":"Franklin’s Gull and Laughing Gull Comparison"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Franklin'sFranklin’s Gull adult in breeding plumage<\/span><\/p>\n

Franklin’s and Laughing Gulls are very similar in appearance, they both have dark hoods during the breeding season along with reddish legs, feet and bills. They both have white chests, white eye-arcs and soft gray plumage on their backs and wings.<\/p>\n

Franklin’s Gull are smaller and more delicate in appearance than Laughing Gulls and during the breeding season (and some times nonbreeding season) they can have a pink tint to their chests and underparts.<\/p>\n

The eye-arcs in Franklin’s Gulls are broad and more prominent than they are in Laughing Gulls. Their bills are also shorter and thinner.<\/p>\n

\"FluffedFluffed up Laughing Gull in breeding plumage
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Laughing Gulls have small white spots on their primaries where Franklin’s Gulls have larger spots on their primaries. Those white spots on the primary feathers of gulls are called “mirrors”.<\/p>\n

\"Franklin'sFranklin’s Gull molting to nonbreeding plumage<\/span><\/p>\n

Franklin’s Gulls are found at inland locations during their breeding season in western areas of North America nesting in marshes and freshwater and saline lakes. Only during migration and winter are they found in coastal areas.<\/p>\n

\"BathingBathing Laughing Gull with wings up<\/span><\/p>\n

Laughing Gulls are almost entirely coastal and prefer islands to nest on. Franklin’s Gulls do show up in Florida during the winter so looking for them carefully in flocks of Laughing Gulls could be productive.<\/p>\n

A Laughing Gull was found by Matthew Pendleton here in Utah in January of 2015 and was a first record for the state<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

\"HundredsHundreds of Franklin’s Gulls feeding on the Great Salt Lake Brine flies<\/span><\/p>\n

I am fortunate to see Franklin’s Gulls by the thousands from the causeway to Antelope Island State Park, at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and further north I often see them at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. The Great Salt Lake provides this species with plenty of food because of the brine flies and midges found there. It is not unusual to see them picking the brine flies off the surface of the lake, on the shoreline or rocks on the shore. They also feed by standing in one place picking the brine flies out of the air.<\/p>\n

\"Franklin'sFranklin’s Gull chasing Brine flies<\/span><\/p>\n

I don’t often see Franklin’s Gulls chasing brine flies like the California Gulls do so when I see it I like to stop and take images of them running through clouds of brine flies.<\/p>\n

I know this isn’t a complete Franklin’s Gull and Laughing Gull comparison but I’m not a scientist, just a bird photographer and bird lover. Oh yeah, I also appreciate the grace and beauty of gulls.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Franklin’s Gulls photos and here<\/span><\/a> for more of my Laughing Gull images.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I know this isn’t a complete Franklin’s Gull and Laughing Gull comparison but I’m not a scientist, just a bird photographer and bird lover. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39115,"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":[511,27,5310,1022,25,704,1336,188,2000,26],"tags":[164,5991,4229,9856,5132,4982,9860,5133,4329,4038,3539,521,6224,2668,3995,4160,4330,9857,9855,4233,2318,9861,9858,9859],"class_list":["post-39116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-brine-flies","category-davis-county-utah","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-franklins-gulls","category-laughing-gulls-gulls","category-pinellas-county-florida","category-utah","tag-bird-identification-2","tag-brine-flies","tag-brine-fly","tag-chests","tag-coastal","tag-comparison","tag-dark-hoods","tag-eye-arcs","tag-franklins-gull","tag-grasslands","tag-gull","tag-gulls","tag-inland","tag-interior-west","tag-laughing-gull","tag-leucophaeus-atricilla","tag-leucophaeus-pipixcan","tag-mirrors","tag-pink-tint","tag-prairie","tag-primaries","tag-reddish-legs","tag-similar","tag-similarities"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/franklins-gull-feeding-brine-flies-mia-mcpherson-8201.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-aaU","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":92541,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/07\/25\/franklins-gull-feasting-on-brine-flies\/","url_meta":{"origin":39116,"position":0},"title":"Franklin’s Gull Feasting On Brine Flies Plus News About The Great Salt Lake","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 25, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"While Franklin's Gulls are in northern Utah for their breeding season brine flies are an important food source for the adults and their young and are a part of their breeding success here in the Great Basin.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Franklin's Gull scooping up Brine flies at the Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/franklins-gull-adult-great-salt-lake-mia-mcpherson-8135.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/franklins-gull-adult-great-salt-lake-mia-mcpherson-8135.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/franklins-gull-adult-great-salt-lake-mia-mcpherson-8135.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/franklins-gull-adult-great-salt-lake-mia-mcpherson-8135.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":56437,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/03\/06\/early-franklins-gull-at-bear-river-mbr-on-march-6-2018\/","url_meta":{"origin":39116,"position":1},"title":"Early Franklin’s Gull at Bear River MBR on March 6, 2018","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 6, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"While I had the Sandhill Crane and the Ring-billed Gulls in my view finder I heard a call and it only took a second for my brain to figure out that I was hearing a Franklin's Gull which surprised me because it was at the refuge much earlier than I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Early Franklin's Gull at Bear River MBR - March 6, 2018, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/franklins-gull-early-arrival-sandhill-crane-mia-mcpherson-7237.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/franklins-gull-early-arrival-sandhill-crane-mia-mcpherson-7237.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/franklins-gull-early-arrival-sandhill-crane-mia-mcpherson-7237.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/franklins-gull-early-arrival-sandhill-crane-mia-mcpherson-7237.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1648,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/12\/17\/laughing-gulls\/","url_meta":{"origin":39116,"position":2},"title":"Laughing Gulls","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 17, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Laughing Gull in breeding plumage in a blue lagoon, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/laughing-gull-in-blue-mia-mcpherson-6732.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-in-blue-mia-mcpherson-6732.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/laughing-gull-in-blue-mia-mcpherson-6732.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/laughing-gull-in-blue-mia-mcpherson-6732.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":115595,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/09\/03\/franklins-gull-images-better-late-than-never\/","url_meta":{"origin":39116,"position":3},"title":"Franklin’s Gull Images – Better Late Than Never","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 3, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I took these Franklin's Gull images at Farmington Bay WMA nearly a year ago. I suppose it's better late than never to share the photos with you all today.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Franklin's Gull swallowing a fish, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/franklins-gull-pond-mia-mcpherson-2165.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/franklins-gull-pond-mia-mcpherson-2165.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/franklins-gull-pond-mia-mcpherson-2165.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/franklins-gull-pond-mia-mcpherson-2165.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday while near the marina on Antelope Island State Park I spotted my first of the year Brine Flies warming up on some of the rocks in the water.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"First of the year Brine Flies, Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/brine-flies-mia-mcpherson-0280.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/brine-flies-mia-mcpherson-0280.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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