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Sabine's Gull

Xema sabiniOrder: CHARADRIIFORMES Family: Skuas, Gulls, Terns, Skimmers (Laridae)
Codes: Common Name: SAGU Scientific Name: XEMSAB ITIS Taxonomic No.: 176866
Least Concern
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Sabine's Gull: The breeding adult Sabine’s Gull has a gray back and white nape, rump, and underparts. The hood is solid black with a dark red eyering and the bill is black with a yellow tip.
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The orange "blossum" replaces the lid of a jelly jar.
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Hex shaped nectar feeds several Orioles. Nectar kept in fridge.
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Overview

Sabine's Gull: Small gull with gray back and white nape, rump, and underparts. Hood is solid black and eye-ring is dark red. Bill is black with yellow tip; legs and feet are black. The upperwings are gray with black primaries and white secondaries. Tail is slightly forked when folded.


Range and Habitat

Sabine's Gull: Breeds on coastal wet tundra in the arctic, including northern and western Alaska, arctic Canada, northern Greenland, Spitzbergen, and across northern Siberia. Outside breeding season, it is essentially pelagic, found in the eastern Pacific between southern Baja California and central Chile; concentrates in the tropics in the Atlantic.

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Topo Map: Gull-like Body


Listen to Call

Voice Text

"vihihihi", "hrier-hrier", "tsett"

Interesting Facts

 The only member of its genus, the Sabine's Gull is like no other gull. Many of its behaviors resemble those of terns more than gulls.

 Its generic placement is disputed; some authors treat it as the sole species in the genus Xema as Xema sabini, while others retain it in the genus Larus as Larus sabini.

 This bird was named after the English scientist Sir Edward Sabine by his brother Joseph Sabine.

 A group of gulls has many collective nouns, including a "flotilla", "gullery", "screech", "scavenging", and "squabble" of gulls.


Bird Term Glossary



Author

Gary Owen Dick

Artist

Irina Rud-Volga

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Range Map for Sabine's Gull

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Family Gull (Laridae)_blue
Species Xema sabini
Length13 - 14 Inches
Wingspan34.5 Inches

Sabine's Gull

Sabine's Gull: Small gull with gray back and white nape, rump, and underparts. Hood is solid black and eye-ring is dark red. Bill is black with yellow tip; legs and feet are black. The upperwings are gray with black primaries and white secondaries. Tail is slightly forked when folded.

● Song: "vihihihi", "hrier-hrier", "tsett"

● Foraging & Feeding: Sabine's Gull: Diet includes fish and marine invertebrates. Forages like wading birds, picking prey items from edges of pools, swimming in circles to stir up prey like phalaropes, or running over mud flats to scoop up stranded fish.

● Breeding & nesting: Sabine's Gull: One to three olive buff eggs with olive brown spots are laid in a grass-lined ground scrape. Incubation ranges from 23 to 26 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Sabine's Gull: Bonaparte's Gull has black bill, black hood, orange legs and feet, and a squared tail.

Flight Pattern

Ternlike airy flight with continuous wing beats, a few glides, and numerous dives.
Sabine's Gull Breeding Adult Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Sabine's Gull: Breeds on coastal wet tundra in the arctic, including northern and western Alaska, arctic Canada, northern Greenland, Spitzbergen, and across northern Siberia. Outside breeding season, it is essentially pelagic, found in the eastern Pacific between southern Baja California and central Chile; concentrates in the tropics in the Atlantic.
BreedingMonogamous, Small colonies
Population
MigrationMigratory
Weight7.2 Ounces
Gull-like BodyX
UnderpartsX
Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.
NapeX
Also called the hindneck or collar, it is the back of the neck where the head joins the body.
PrimariesX
The primaries are the flight feathers specialized for flight. They are attached to the "hand" equivalent part of the wing.
RumpX
The area between the uppertail coverts and the back of the bird.
SecondariesX
Flight feathers that are attached to the wing in the area similar to the human forearm and between the body and the primaries.
PelagicX
The pelagic is a type of bird whose habitat is on the open ocean rather than in a coastal region or on inland bodies of water (lakes, rivers). An example of a pelagic bird is the blacklegged kittiwake.
4 and 6 letter alpha codesX

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

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ITIS CodesX

The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) was established in the mid-1990�s as a cooperative project among several federal agencies to improve and expand upon taxonomic data (known as the NODC Taxonomic Code) maintained by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

To find the ITIS page for a bird species go to the ITIS web site advanced search and report page at http://www.itis.gov/advanced_search.html. You can enter the TSN or the common name of the bird. It will return the ITIS page for that bird. Another way to obtain the ITIS page is to use the Google search engine. Enter the string ITIS followed by the taxonomic ID, for example "ITIS 178041" will return the page for the Allen's Hummingbird.

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Parts of a Standing birdX
Head Feathers and MarkingsX
Parts of a Flying birdX