Pallas's Gull

Ichthyaetus ichthyaetus (Pallas, 1773)

Pallas's Gull, Ichthyaetus ichthyaetus, breeds patchily on lake islands across the Palearctic, from Crimea to Kazakhstan and through western and southern Mongolia, Gansu, Qinghai and Inner Mongolia in China. Outside the breeding season it reaches the coasts of the Black, Caspian and Aral seas, and also the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal, extending to Bangladesh, the Gulf of Martaban and major rivers in northern and central India and Myanmar. It is a gull in the family Laridae, and nests on the ground in colonies, laying two to four eggs.

Order

Charadriiformes

Family

Laridae — Gulls, Terns, Skimmers

Breeding range

Palearctic: patchily on lake islands from Crimea to Kazakhstan, w, s Mongolia, Gansu, Qinghai and Inner Mongolia (w, c China)

Nonbreeding range

to coasts of Black, Caspian, and Aral seas; Red Sea, Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal (North Indian Ocean) to Bangladesh and Gulf of Martaban (sc Myanmar); also large n, c rivers of India and Myanmar