They have a whitish rump, pale inner primary feathers, and a narrow, sharply-defined black band on the tail.

Although their ranges do not overlap, with its darkish mantle, both black and red near the tip of its bill and a dark eye, the Armenian gull bears a remarkable resemblance to the California gull (L. californicus) of North America.

The Armenian gull nests beside mountain lakes in Georgia, Armenia, Turkey, and western Iran.

It is a partial migrant, with many birds wintering on the coasts of Turkey, Lebanon, and Israel.

The nest is a mound of vegetation built on the ground on an island or the lakeshore.