Non-breeding Laughing Gulls are sighted annually in Atlantic Canada and the Great Lakes. The species once bred regularly on islands off the coast of Nova Scotia (e.g., Snyder 1940), but breeding has not been recorded there since 1941. It has bred at Machias Seal Island, New Brunswick, several times since the 1940s (Erskine 1992). A single pair was confirmed breeding there during the second Maritimes Breeding Bird Atlas (2010-2014; Chardine 2015). Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) data are insufficient to calculate a population trend specific to Canada. BBS results from throughout North America suggest that the abundance of Laughing Gulls has increased substantially at the continental level since about 1970, but the species remains an irregular breeder in Canada. This suggests a relatively unchanged Canadian population, but with medium reliability. The Laughing Gull is currently at an acceptable level relative to its national population goal (see graph below).
Additional information on: Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) - Canadian analysis
