Afghanistan (P), Albania (NB), Algeria, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia (B), Aruba, Austria (B) (NB), Azerbaijan (B) (NB), Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus (B) (NB), Belgium (B) (NB), Benin, Bermuda, Bosnia and Herzegovina (B) (NB), Bulgaria (B) (NB), Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Canada (B) (NB), Cape Verde, China (mainland) (NB), Côte dIvoire, Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska) (B) (NB), Cyprus (NB), Czech Republic (B) (NB), Denmark (B) (NB) (P), Djibouti, Dominica, Egypt, Eritrea, Estonia (B) (NB), Ethiopia, Faroe Islands (B) (NB), Finland (B) (NB) (P), France (B) (NB) (P), French Guiana, Gambia, Georgia (B) (NB), Germany (B) (NB) (P), Ghana, Gibraltar (NB), Greece (B) (NB) (P), Greenland (B) (NB), Guadeloupe, Guam (NB), Guinea-bissau, Hong Kong (China), Hungary (B) (NB) (P), Iceland (B) (NB), India, Indonesia, Iran [Islamic Republic of] (NB), Iraq (NB) (P), Ireland (B) (NB), Israel (NB) (P), Italy (B) (NB), Japan, Jordan (NB) (P), Kazakhstan (B), Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan (B), Laos, Latvia (B) (NB), Lebanon (NB), Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Liechtenstein (B), Lithuania (B) (NB), Luxembourg (NB), Macedonia [The Former Yugoslav Republic of] (B) (NB), Malaysia, Mali, Malta (NB), Martinique, Mauritania, Mexico, Micronesia [Federated States of] (NB), Moldova [Republic of] (B) (NB) (P), Mongolia (B), Montenegro (B) (NB), Montserrat, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands (B) (NB), Netherlands Antilles, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Northern Mariana Islands (NB), Norway (B) (P), Oman (NB), Pakistan, Palau (NB), Palestinian Authority Territories (NB) (P), Philippines, Poland (B) (NB) (P), Portugal (B) (NB), Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania (B) (NB) (P), Russia (Asian) (B), Russia (Central Asian) (B) (P), Russia (European) (B) (P), Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia (B) (NB), Singapore, Slovakia (Slovak Republic) (B) (NB) (P), Slovenia (B) (NB) (P), Somalia, South Korea, Spain (B) (NB) (P), Sri Lanka, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Pierre and Miquelon (NB) (P), St Vincent and The Grenadines, Sudan, Suriname, Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands (B), Sweden (B) (NB) (P), Switzerland (B) (NB), Syrian Arab Republic, Taiwan (China), Tajikistan, Tanzania [United Republic of], Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey (B) (NB), Uganda, Ukraine (B) (NB) (P), United Arab Emirates (NB), United Kingdom (B) (NB), USA (B), Uzbekistan (B), Vietnam, Virgin Islands (U.S.) (NB), Western Sahara, Yemen.
Vagrant to Angola, Australia, Bahamas, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Cuba, Grenada, Guinea, Liberia, Maldives, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Turks and Caicos Islands, Zimbabwe.
Southern Greenland and Iceland through most of Europe and central Asia to Kamchatka, extreme south-eastern Russia (Ussuriland) and north-eastern China (Heilongjiang); marginal in north-eastern North America. Winters south to western and eastern Africa, India, Malaysia and Philippines.
 
Population
Estimated population is 4,800,000 - 8,900,000 (2010).
Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) [XC871908]
by Paul Coiffard from Saint-Quentin-en-Tourmont, Somme, Hauts-de-France, France (flight call)
Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) [XC792499]
by Simon Elliott from Low Newton-by-the-Sea, Northumberland, England, United Kingdom (call)
Nest
A shallow depression, lined with leaves and feathers, often amongst marshy vegatation or on bare ground.
Eggs (Guide)
2 - 6, usually 3; smooth, variable from light buffish-brown to deep brown to pale bluish-green, heavily spotted and blotched with dark brown; oval. Incubation: about 23 days; by both sexes.
Subspecies
Morphometric analyses link it to various other hooded gulls, with no consistent pattern. Some authors recognize possible subspecies sibiricus (north-eastern Siberia).
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9