---
title: "Mewa czarnogłowa"
description: "Ichthyaetus melanocephalus — Ptaki. The Mediterranean gull (Ichthyaetus melanocephalus) is a small gull."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/pl/animal/mediterranean-gull
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Mewa czarnogłowa

> Ichthyaetus melanocephalus — Ptaki. The Mediterranean gull (Ichthyaetus melanocephalus) is a small gull.

- Scientific name: *Ichthyaetus melanocephalus*
- Category: `birds` (Ptaki)
- Habitats: `sea` (Morze i wybrzeże)
- iNaturalist observations: 13088
- Wikidata: [Q276189](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q276189)
- iNaturalist taxon: [144517](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/144517)

## Names

- en: Mediterranean Gull
- de: Schwarzkopfmöwe
- es: Gaviota cabecinegra
- fr: Mouette mélanocéphale
- nl: Zwartkopmeeuw
- pt: Gaivota-de-cabeça-preta
- pl: Mewa czarnogłowa

## Countries with the most observations

FR (2033), ES (1840), PT (1677), GB (1490), IT (1044), RU (579), DZ (512), UA (501), GR (375), TR (303), DE (300), NL (237)

## Summary

The Mediterranean gull (Ichthyaetus melanocephalus) is a small gull. The scientific name is from Ancient Greek. The genus Ichthyaetus is from ikhthus, "fish", and aetos, "eagle", and the specific melanocephalus is from melas, "black", and -kephalos "-headed".
This gull breeds almost entirely in the Western Palearctic, mainly in the south east, especially around the Black Sea, and in central Turkey. There are colonies elsewhere in southern Europe, and this species has undergone a dramatic range expansion in recent decades. As is the case with many gulls, it has traditionally been placed in the genus Larus.

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

## Photo

![Mewa czarnogłowa](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/mediterranean-gull/medium.jpg)

Photo: Marino Linić · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/150078939

## Machine access

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