Brown-headed Gull

The brown-headed gull is a medium-sized migratory gull that breeds in central Asia and “winters” south in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It is known for its distinctive dark brown head during the breeding season and pale yellow eyes. During the non-breeding season, the head is primarily white with grey-brown marks around the eyes and ear-coverts. A key identifier, irrespective of plumage – breeding or non-breeding, it is the broad black tip on the outer primaries (wingtips) with a prominent white “mirror” or “window,” which is different from the wing patterns of other similar gulls especailly the slighlty smaller Black-headed Gull which is also a migrant to Malaysia but in much smaller number. There are few additional migratory gull species in addition to these two species of gulls, with the Brown-headed slightly but distinctively larger than the Black-headed.

The brown-headed gull is a consistent migratory gull to Teluk Air Tawar – Kuala Muda IBA with numbers of about 200-300 every season.

https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/brown-headed-gull-larus-brunnicephalus

At Teluk Air Tawar – Kuala Muda: a migrant. About 100 gulls were counted in December 2024, and they were seen at Sungai Abdul with plovers in February 2025. Look for it from August to April, in the largest numbers from October to February. See When to see shorebirds at Teluk Air Tawar – Kuala Muda.