• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Climate Change maps
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic source(s)
AERC TAC. 2003. AERC TAC Checklist of bird taxa occurring in Western Palearctic region, 15th Draft. Available at: http://www.aerc.eu/DOCS/Bird_taxa_of_the_WP15.xls.
Cramp, S. and Simmons, K.E.L. (eds). 1977-1994. Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The birds of the western Palearctic. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2018	Least Concern
2016	Near Threatened	A3de
2012	Near Threatened	A3de
2010	Near Threatened	A3d,e
2008	Near Threatened	A3e
2006	Near Threatened
2004	Near Threatened
2000	Lower Risk/Near Threatened
1996	Vulnerable
1994	Vulnerable
1988	Threatened

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type	continent	Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	403,000 km2	medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	1,630,000 km2	medium
Area of Occupancy (breeding/resident)	1,400 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	35800-37800 mature individuals	medium	estimated	2008
Population trend	stable	medium	suspected	1977-2010
Generation length	11 years	-	-	-

Population justification: PERSGA/GEF (2003) estimated there to be 12,000-13,000 pairs (excluding Eritrea), while Semere et al. (2008) recorded 5,900 pairs on Eritrean Islands. Thus the overall population size may be 35,800-37,800 mature individuals, which equates to 53,700-56,700 individuals in total.

Trend justification: The population is believed to be stable (Rose and Scott 1997, Symes et al. 2015).

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Djibouti	extant	native	yes
Egypt	extant	native	yes
Eritrea	extant	native	yes
Greece	extant	vagrant			yes
Iran, Islamic Republic of	extant	vagrant			yes
Israel	extant	native			yes
Jordan	extant	native			yes
Kenya	extinct	native			yes
Maldives	extant	vagrant			yes
Oman	extant	vagrant			yes
Saudi Arabia	extant	native	yes
Somalia	extant	native	yes
Sudan	extant	native		yes
Türkiye	extant	vagrant			yes
United Arab Emirates	extant	vagrant			yes
Yemen	extant	native	yes			yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Egypt	Ain Sukhna
Egypt	Gebel El Zeit
Egypt	Hurghada archipelago
Egypt	Qulân islands
Egypt	Ras Mohammed National Park
Egypt	Rawabel islands
Egypt	Siyal islands
Egypt	Suez
Egypt	Tiran island
Egypt	Wadi Gimal island
Egypt	Zabargad island
Eritrea	Dehalak Archipelago and offshore islands
Eritrea	Massawa coast
Israel	Southern Arava valley and Elat mountains
Saudi Arabia	Al-Wajh Bank
Saudi Arabia	Farasan Islands
Saudi Arabia	Jiddah south corniche and port
Saudi Arabia	Jizan Bay
Saudi Arabia	Madinat Yanbu al-Sinaiyah
Saudi Arabia	Shuqaiq mangrove
Somalia	Jasiira Ceebaad and Jasiira Sacaada Diin
Sudan	Mukawwar island and Dunganab bay
Yemen	Aden
Yemen	Al-Fazzah
Yemen	Al-Mukha - Al-Khawkhah
Yemen	Bab al-Mandab - Mawza
Yemen	Bahr Ibn Abbas - Ra's Isa
Yemen	Islands north of Al-Hudaydah
Yemen	Jaza'ir al-Hanish
Yemen	Midi - Al-Luhayyah
Yemen	Nukhaylah - Ghulayfiqah
Yemen	Zubayr group of islands

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Sea Cliffs and Rocky Offshore Islands	major	breeding
Marine Intertidal	Rocky Shoreline	major	breeding
Marine Intertidal	Sandy Shoreline and/or Beaches, Sand Bars, Spits, Etc	major	breeding
Marine Intertidal	Shingle and/or Pebble Shoreline and/or Beaches	suitable	resident
Marine Intertidal	Tidepools	major	breeding
Marine Neritic	Macroalgal/Kelp	major	resident
Marine Neritic	Pelagic	major	resident
Marine Neritic	Seagrass (Submerged)	major	resident
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Loose Rock/pebble/gravel	major	resident
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Rock and Rocky Reefs	major	resident
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Sandy	major	resident
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Sandy-Mud	major	resident
Altitude		Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Biological resource use	Fishing & harvesting aquatic resources - Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Species disturbance, Reduced reproductive success
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species disturbance, Reduced reproductive success
Energy production & mining	Oil & gas drilling	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species disturbance, Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Human intrusions & disturbance	Recreational activities	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Species disturbance
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Felis catus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Unknown		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Species disturbance, Reduced reproductive success
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Named species	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success
Pollution	Industrial & military effluents - Oil spills	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Residential & commercial development	Tourism & recreation areas	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species disturbance, Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

Purpose	Scale
Food - human	subsistence, national
Food - human	subsistence, national
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: White-eyed Gull Larus leucophthalmus. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/white-eyed-gull-larus-leucophthalmus on 26/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 26/12/2024.