{"id":8989,"date":"2013-07-26T03:45:50","date_gmt":"2013-07-26T09:45:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=8989"},"modified":"2024-09-07T15:12:29","modified_gmt":"2024-09-07T20:12:29","slug":"why-do-they-call-them-laughing-gulls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/07\/26\/why-do-they-call-them-laughing-gulls\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Do They Call Them Laughing Gulls?"},"content":{"rendered":"

They might be called Laughing Gulls because of the sounds they make which is a ha-ha-ha-ha, you can listen to the call here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"CallingCalling Laughing Gull in breeding plumage – Nikon D200, handheld, f14, 1\/350, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm at 185mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Laughing Gulls are quite noisy when they are in a flock but I never minded listening to them, in fact they often made me laugh.<\/p>\n

This Laughing Gull was photographed on Fort De Soto County Park’s north beach, the sand had been piled up to fortify the feet of the lifeguard tower.\u00a0 This bird is in breeding plumage, look at the huge opening of the bill!<\/p>\n

\"LaughingLaughing Gull calling because of an “intruder”\u00a0– Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/750, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm at 300mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

This Laughing Gull was also photographed at Fort De Soto but it was just going into breeding plumage, it wasn’t happy that another gull landed near it and was letting that be known quite loudly!<\/p>\n

Maybe they aren’t called Laughing Gulls because of their calls but it sure makes the most sense to me!<\/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 noisy when they are in a flock but I never minded listening to them, in fact they often made me laugh. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":134097,"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],"tags":[4004,4039,4053,4072,2304,5132,173,4077,3539,521,3995,4160,4246,343,3980,4017,3996],"class_list":["post-8989","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","tag-adult","tag-beach","tag-breeding-plumage","tag-calling","tag-calls","tag-coastal","tag-gulf-coast","tag-gulf-of-mexico","tag-gull","tag-gulls","tag-laughing-gull","tag-leucophaeus-atricilla","tag-nonbreeding-plumage","tag-photography","tag-pinellas-county","tag-sand","tag-water"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/laughing-gull-calling-mia-mcpherson-8988.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-2kZ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1648,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/12\/17\/laughing-gulls\/","url_meta":{"origin":8989,"position":0},"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, 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plumage","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 29, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Both of these Laughing Gull images were taken at Fort De Soto County Park's north beach in Florida, the image above shows a Laughing gull in nonbreeding plumage that was taken in September of 2008.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Nonbreeding Laughing Gull, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/laughing-gull-non-breeding-mia-mcpherson-0216.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/laughing-gull-non-breeding-mia-mcpherson-0216.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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I have assumed that they are partially leucistic though I could be wrong.","rel":"","context":"In "Bird ID"","block_context":{"text":"Bird ID","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/bird-identification\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pinto Bean aberrant Laughing Gull, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/laughing-gull-pinto-mia-mcpherson-4765.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/laughing-gull-pinto-mia-mcpherson-4765.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/laughing-gull-pinto-mia-mcpherson-4765.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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