Laughing Gull

Status Uncommon visitant. Formerly bred. It was last recorded as a breeding bird on 18 June 1941, when a visit to the Bird (or Halibut) Islands off Harrigan Cove, Halifax County, revealed a colony of about 25 pairs just beginning to nest (R.W. Tufts). Horton Beaver, long-time resident and fisherman of the area, stated that these birds were abundant there when he was a boy. This colony, he believed, was the last in that area. In 1960 there were no Laughing Gulls to be seen there or anywhere else in the vicinity. How long this colony persisted after 1941 is not recorded.

The only other possible recent colony was at Quoddy, Halifax County, where R. Dicks suspected they were breeding on 23 August 1958. Evidence that Laughing Gulls once nested throughout Nova Scotia is provided by Bryant (1857), who collected two pairs in summer 1856 on Green Island, Yarmouth County, the females with enlarged oviducts. Langille (1892) observed "some eight or ten Laughing Gulls, among clouds of terns" and found one nest with two fresh eggs of this species on Flat Island, near Tancook, Lunenburg County. Residents of Seal Island told Louis B. Bishop in August 1909 of a breeding colony on one of the small islands nearby (Piers' notes). Today the species is a regular summer visitant in small numbers to southern parts of the province.

Most recent records,almost all of single birds,fall between mid-May (earliest 14 May) and early October. Some late fall and winter sightings are: 27 January 1972 on Sable Island; 17 December 1972 and 15 December 1979 during Halifax East Christmas Bird Counts; 20-29 December 1963 on Bon Portage Island; and 16 January 1971 at Yarmouth. In 1968, immediately following the arrival of hurricane "Gladys" on 21 October, thousands of Laughing Gulls were dumped along our shores. Many were distressed and are believed to have died, but judging by their suddenly reduced numbers early in November it is also believed that substantial numbers were able to reorient themselves and return south; nonetheless, birds were reported in the Halifax area as late as December 21.

Description Length: 40-43 cm. Adults in summer: Dark leaden gray on back and wings; wings with white border on hind edges; primaries black with small white tips; head and throat with a hood of slaty black; rest of plumage white; bills and legs dark red. Adults in winter: Similar to above but head and throat are white, spotted and streaked with grayish brown. First-winter birds: Resemble winter adults but the upper surfaces of the wings are mainly brown or blackish brown, the breast and neck are flecked with brown and the tail has a blackish sub-terminal band.

Breeding Nest: On the ground in colonies; composed of coarse, dry vegetable matter lined with fine grass. Nests are neatly built and deeply cup-shaped. On 18 June 1941 a few nests on Bird Island contained the usual three eggs, others held incomplete sets and some were empty. Eggs: 3; buff to greenish olive, irregularly spotted and blotched with dark brown or black.

Range Breeds along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts from southern New England (occasionally New Brunswick) to Texas, the West Indies, Yucatan and northern Venezuela. Winters in the southern states, occasionally farther north, south to northern South America.

Remarks It is slightly larger than the Common Black-headed and Bonaparte's Gulls, with which it may be confused in its various plumages. However, the adult bird has a dark gray mantle which blends into the still darker wing-tips, and the border of the hind part of the wing is conspicuously white. The other two species have pearly gray mantles, and the ends of their wings are white, narrowly bordered with black.

The Laughing Gull's name is derived from its call. When I visited the aforementioned colony on Bird (or Halibut) Islands in 1941, the birds circled low overhead, calling vociferously. They were protesting our intrusion but their chorus of rapidly repeated ha-ha-ha's made them seem highly amused. According to Horton Beaver, my boatman on that occasion, they were known locally as "black-polls."