- 13.4 in
- 5.5–7.5 oz
- Mouette de Sabine (French)
- Gaviota de Sabine (Spanish)
- Most yearling Sabine's Gulls do not attempt to breed and do not return to the breeding grounds. Their summer home is still relatively unknown.
- Although most Sabine's Gulls migrate along the coasts or at sea, some migrate directly north-south, directly across North America.
- 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.
- Nests on moist tundra ground, usually near fresh water. Feeds primarily in fresh water or on land.
- Migrates and winters primarily offshore.
In breeding season eats aquatic insects. In winter eats zooplankton, crustaceans, fishes.
- Clutch Size
- 1–4 eggs
- Egg Description
- Slightly pointed. Rich olive-green with darker greenish-brown, irregular markings.
- Condition at Hatching
- Chicks semi-precocial at hatching; may leave nest cup at one day old, typically stay on platform for several days. Covered in cryptically colored down.
Depression in vegetation, rarely with lining.
Takes food from surface of water, usually while flying. Frequently robbed of food by jaegers, both on the breeding grounds and at sea.
Not a species of concern in America because their relatively large populations breed away from human disturbance. However,their habitat makes them somewhat vulnerable to oil pollution.
- Day, R. H., I. J. Stenhouse, and H. G. Gilchrist. Sabine's Gull (Xema sabini). In The Birds of North America, No. 593 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.