Brown-headed Gull

Chroicocephalus brunnicephalus (Jerdon, 1840)

Brown-headed Gull, Chroicocephalus brunnicephalus, breeds on the Tibetan Plateau in Tajikistan, Xinjiang, Ladakh and Tibet, and spends the nonbreeding season across the inland and coastal Indian Subcontinent, south-west China and western South-East Asia. It is a gull of the Charadriiformes and Laridae. The species nests in colonies in reedbeds, marshes and lake islands, with the nest placed on the ground. In winter it gathers in large numbers, and it is not a bird of the open sea. It is also known for feeding in towns and ploughed land.

Order

Charadriiformes

Family

Laridae — Gulls, Terns, Skimmers

Breeding range

Palearctic: inland Tibetan Plateau of Tajikistan, Xinjiang (w China), Ladakh (far nw India) and Tibet

Nonbreeding range

inland and coastal Indian Subcontinent, sw China, w se Asia