This common northern hemisphere gull migrates into Africa in a long distributional tail through Tanzania south to South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal coast, with a few birds each year reaching Etosha National Park and occasionally Hardap Dam. They are most commonly recorded in eastern Etosha, with ive records of birds from Namutoni, an immature from Lake Oponono, and birds from Windhoek, Hardap Dam, Swakopmund and two from the Kunene River mouth.