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Franklin's gull migration Leucophaeus pipixcan
▶ Follow the franklin's gull across the big globe
Press ▶ to play the year. Line: a simplified typical route, joining the main cluster of GBIF records in each month (adjusted for observer effort).
| Scientific name | Leucophaeus pipixcan |
|---|---|
| Wingspan | 91.5 cm |
| Adult weight | 280 g (adult) |
| Records mapped | 618,511 (GBIF) |
| GPS / geolocator tracks | none with an open licence yet |
Facts from Wikidata Q756795 (CC0).
Migration in the data
618,511 GBIF records (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 licences only) are mapped here, in 1.41° grid cells, month by month.
In the Americas, the centre of the records (adjusted for observer effort) is furthest north in July (about 48°N) and furthest south in February (about 22°S).
More than half of the effort-adjusted signal there is south of the Equator in: January, February, March, December.
Month by month: centre of records in the Americas
| Month | Centre (latitude) | South of the Equator |
|---|---|---|
| January | 21°S | 90% |
| February | 22°S | 93% |
| March | 7°S | 70% |
| April | 32°N | 15% |
| May | 38°N | 11% |
| June | 46°N | 4% |
| July | 48°N | 2% |
| August | 47°N | 2% |
| September | 45°N | 2% |
| October | 34°N | 11% |
| November | 8°N | 47% |
| December | 17°S | 81% |
Tracked birds
No openly licensed (CC0 / CC BY) tracking data package for this species was found in the Movebank Data Repository yet, so only records are shown.
About the franklin's gull
Franklin's gull is a small gull. The genus name Leucophaeus is from Ancient Greek leukos, "white", and phaios, "dusky". The specific pipixcan is a Nahuatl name for a type of gull. The English common name was given to commemorate the arctic explorer Sir John Franklin, who led an expedition in 1825 on which the type was collected.
From the Wikipedia article “Franklin's gull” (revision 1380681025), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sources
GBIF occurrence records, licence CC0 1.0 or CC BY 4.0 only, observations only (no specimens), filtered with: taxonKey=5846430&license=CC0_1_0&license=CC_BY_4_0&occurrenceStatus=PRESENT&hasGeospatialIssue=false&basisOfRecord=HUMAN_OBSERVATION&basisOfRecord=MACHINE_OBSERVATION&basisOfRecord=OBSERVATION. Monthly queries: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec. GBIF.org (23 October 2026) occurrence data accessed via the GBIF API; a GBIF download DOI is still to be added. Contributing datasets.