Sabine's Gull (Xema sabini)

Family
Laridae (Gulls, Terns, Skimmers)

Size
27 - 36 cm

First Described (Guide)
(Sabine, 1819)

Derivation
Lar-us - Gk, laros, seabird: sabini - E. Sabine (1788 - 1883), English astronomer, naturalist and explorer, who collected the first specimens of the gull on the western coast of Greenland in 1818

Abundance (Guide)
V

A rare fall - winter vagrant to Darwin, NT, south-eastern Soth Australia and southern New South Wales. A single individual was sighted 20 km south of Derby, WA on August 26, 2006.

Habitat
Tundra, often at brackish wetlands near coasts. In non-breeding season pelagic.

Range (Guide)

Canada (B), Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, C�te dIvoire, Denmark (P), Ecuador, El Salvador, France (NB), Gabon, Greenland (B), Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-bissau, Iceland, Ireland, Liberia, Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Namibia, Netherlands Antilles (P), Nigeria, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Russia (Asian) (B), Russia (European), Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Spain (NB), Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands (B), Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom (P), USA (B), Western Sahara.

Vagrant to Angola, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bermuda, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Cuba, Czech Republic, Egypt, Faroe Islands, Finland, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia (Central Asian), South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Togo, United Arab Emirates.

Breeds in the Arctic. Vagrant, fall and winter, to Darwin, NT, the south-east of South Australia and the south coast of New South Wales.

Rarity Status
View Rarity Status Information

Population
Estimated population is 330,000 - 700,000 (2010).

Status LC
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Food
Invertebrates, small fish, occasionally carrion.

Voice
Various grating cries and whistling calls. Harsh, grating, tern-like, 'k-year' or 'krrree.

Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (17)...)

Sabine's Gull (Xema sabini) [XC185597]
by Andrew Spencer from Freshwater Lake, Barrow, North Slope Borough, Alaska, United States (call)

Sabine's Gull (Xema sabini) [XC673827]
by Philippe J. DUBOIS from Bay of Biscay (near Ho\u00ebdic), Morbihan, Brittany, France (flight call)

Breeding Season (Guide)
Does not breed in Australia. Breeds in the Arctic.

Nest
A shallow depression in the ground, unlined.

Eggs (Guide)
2 - 3; smooth, olive, variably marked, dark brown mostly at the large end; oval. Incubation: 23 - 25 days; by both sexes.

Subspecies
The following 4 subspecies are recognised:

palaearctica Stegmann, 1934 - Spitsbergen east to Taymyr Peninsula and Lena Delta.
tschuktschorum Portenko, 1939 - Chukotsk Peninsula (Russia).
woznesenskii Portenko, 1939 - North-eastern Siberia to Alaska.
sabini (Sabine, 1819) - Northern coasts.

References
See References.

The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9

Files:

JPG files for Sabines Gull (Xema sabini) - 10 files

More Information

BirdLife International

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BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

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