The little gull was first formally described as Larus minutus in 1776 by the German ornithologist Peter Simon Pallas with its type locality given as Berezovo, Tobolsk in Siberia.

[4] Hydrocoloeus minutus is the binomial accepted for this species and it is classified in the family Laridae, the gulls and terns, within the order Charadriiformes.

[2][5] The little gull has genus name Hydrocoloeus which is from Ancient Greek hydro, "water", and koloios, a sort of web-footed bird.

The juveniles have large areas of blackish colour on the back and head and in flight they have a dark "w" pattern on the upperwings with white underwings.

[12] The little gull nests in areas of dense vegetation where there are emergent or plants with floating leaves in shallow freshwater bodies, slow-moving rivers, marshes and bogs, occasionally using costal lagoons or other brackish water habitats.

[9] Breeding birds are insectivores and feed on a variety of insects caught on the wing close to the water and in winter the diet is dominated by small fish and marine invertebrates.