---
title: "Sooty Gull"
description: "Ichthyaetus hemprichii — Birds. The sooty gull (Ichthyaetus hemprichii) is a species of gull in the family Laridae, also known as the Aden gull or Hemprich's gull."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/sooty-gull
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Sooty Gull

> Ichthyaetus hemprichii — Birds. The sooty gull (Ichthyaetus hemprichii) is a species of gull in the family Laridae, also known as the Aden gull or Hemprich's gull.

- Scientific name: *Ichthyaetus hemprichii*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: `sea` (Sea & coast)
- iNaturalist observations: 931
- Wikidata: [Q589869](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q589869)
- iNaturalist taxon: [144520](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/144520)

## Names

- en: Sooty Gull
- de: Hemprichmöwe
- es: Gaviota Cejiblanca
- fr: Goéland de Hemprich
- nl: Hemprichs meeuw
- pt: Gaivota-fuliginosa
- pl: Mewa przydymiona

## Countries with the most observations

OM (288), EG (157), KE (90), SA (88), YE (64), TZ (60), AE (56), ZA (19), IN (11), ER (9), IR (8), SD (7)

## Summary

The sooty gull (Ichthyaetus hemprichii) is a species of gull in the family Laridae, also known as the Aden gull or Hemprich's gull. It is found in Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, India, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Maldives, Mozambique, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. As is the case with many gulls, it has traditionally been placed in the genus Larus. The sooty gull is named in honour of the German naturalist Wilhelm Hemprich who died in 1825 while on a scientific expedition to Egypt and the Middle East with his friend…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sooty_gull

## Photo

![Sooty Gull](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/sooty-gull/medium.jpg)

Photo: mattnewnham · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/174901391

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/sooty-gull?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).