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The UK Bird Atlas

Mediterranean Gull (Ichthyaetus melanocephalus)Where and when to see it in the UK

Resident · reporting peaks July · Skimmers, Noddies, Terns, and Gulls · BOU category A

Records to 2026-08-16 · build 2026-08-31

Mediterranean Gull (Ichthyaetus melanocephalus)
Martin Olsson (mnemo on en/sv wikipedia and commons, martin@minimum.se)., CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Peak months
Mediterranean Gull: relative reporting rate by 10 km square, September

Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (grid squares, place names from OS Open Names). Northern Ireland place names: OSNI Open Data, OGL v3.0. County and country boundaries: Office for National Statistics, Open Government Licence v3.0. Coastline: Natural Earth. Bird records from the data partners listed here.

Mediterranean Gull has been recorded in 1,208 of the 2,971 10 km squares covering UK land (41%) in records to 2026. Resident in the UK. Its strongest squares are in England, Wales and Scotland. Reporting peaks in July.

Conservation status: Least Concern (IUCN Red List, LC)
View on the IUCN Red List
Relative to this species' best squares (how classes are calculated)
Very high
28% or more of visits
High
7% to 28%
Moderate
2% to 7%
Low
under 2%
Surveyed, not recorded
at least 20 qualifying visits, no record
Insufficient records
too few visits to say
Lighter fill
Few visits, lower confidence
Small dot
Occasional: a single record, or out of season

Seasonality

Reporting rate by month, relative to the peak month
MonthRelative to peakShare of visitsTypical class
January 35%2%Low
February 49%3%Very high
March 63%4%Very high
April 75%4%Low
May 47%3%Low
June 55%3%Moderate
July 100%6%Very high
August 83%5%High
September 72%4%High
October 76%4%Very high
November 48%3%Low
December 31%2%Low

Squares with the highest reporting rate in July

SquareWhereShare of visitsClass
D14Causeway Coast and Glens, Northern Ireland100%Very high
HP61Shetland Islands, Scotland100%Very high
J43Newry, Mourne and Down, Northern Ireland100%Very high
J46Ards and North Down, Northern Ireland100%Very high
J47Ards and North Down, Northern Ireland100%Very high
J49Mid and East Antrim, Northern Ireland100%Very high
NH19Highland, Scotland100%Very high
NK05Aberdeenshire, Scotland100%Very high
NK06Aberdeenshire, Scotland100%Very high
NO53Angus, Scotland100%Very high

Spotted an error in a square? Report it and it goes into the review queue. Read the methodology for how classes, flags and sensitive-species rules work. Data to 2026.