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
Habitat
Tundra, often at brackish wetlands near coasts. In non-breeding season pelagic.
Canada (B), Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Côte 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.
Population
Estimated population is 330,000 - 700,000 (2010).
Sabine's Gull (Xema sabini) [XC680386]
by Philippe J. DUBOIS from Bay of Biscay (near Ho\u00ebdic), Morbihan, Brittany, France (call, contact calls resting on sea)
Sabine's Gull (Xema sabini) [XC29563]
by Patrik \u00c5berg from Pensthorpe, Norfolk, United Kingdom (call, long call)
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.
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