The cry of
Laughing Gulls along Brooklyn's coast is the dominant "music" of the summer soundscape. This medium-sized gull is an abundant breeder on the Atlantic coast of North America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. By late-autumn nearly all will depart the northeastern U.S. wintering from the Carolinas south to Brazil and Peru. Their varied diet consists of small fish, crustaceans, insects, earthworms, snails and refuse. In late spring,
horseshoe crab eggs make up a large part of their diet. They are also known to eat the eggs and sometimes young of other birds (they are also not above stealing french fries from children). Due to their extremely large range and increasing populations the IUCN Red List lists their
conservation status as Least Concern.
Their scientific name,
Leucophaeus atricilla, means whitish-grey, ash-coloured; black-necked.
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