The Laughing gull

The Laughing gull

The laughing gull is one of the most conspicuous and abundant shore birds in our coast line. Local fishermen call it Guanaguanare. It is a black headed gull, with white body and gray wings which, noisy to the utmost, receive the fishermen when they return with their catch. The idea is to rob the fish that falls from the baskets in the boat.

Watching these birds doing this in LosRoques is a real spectacle. They are agile, rapid, and weary of the movements of the fish near the surface. They make observation passes, and some times face the wind maneuvering to remain static, for a better sighting, in order to launch into the water in a fishing cast.

After making their dives for fish, the Pelicans draw their heads and move the beak to gobble the fishing. In that precise moment, a mischievous Guanaguanare maneuvers as a helicopter, lands on the pelican's head and, with agility and artful movements, robs some fish of the beak.

This coastal bird, is quite common in Los Roques Archipelago and other Venezuelan oceanic islands. Their life is happy and noisy during the reproduction period from May through July. When we visit the beaches of Los Roques, we can observe, for hours, their agile maneuvers, filled with action and suspense while pirating the pelican's meal.