''Chroicocephalus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of medium to relatively small

gull Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders. Until the 21st century, m ...

s which were included in the

Larus ''Larus'' is a large genus of gulls with worldwide distribution (by far the greatest species diversity is in the Northern Hemisphere). Many of its species are abundant and well-known birds in their ranges. Until about 2005–2007, most gulls ...

'' until recently. Some authorities also include the Saunders's gull in ''Chroicocephalus''. The genus name '' Chroicocephalus'' is from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

''khroizo'', "to colour", and ''kephale'', "head". Representatives of this genus are found in regions/subregions all over the world, each species usually being confined to a region.

Species

Fossils

Huahine gull The Huahine gull (''Chroicocephalus utunui''), also known as the Society Islands gull, is an extinct bird, a species of gull of which subfossil bones were found at the Fa'ahia archeological site on Huahine, in the Society Islands of French Polyne ...

†''Chroicocephalus utunui'' -French Polynesia.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q135851 Bird genera Taxa named by Thomas Campbell Eyton