Bird of the Month: Sabine’s Gull
Written by Andy McCormick
Andy McCormick, Volunteer and Former Board President of Eastside Audubon
Sabine’s Gull is a bird of the ocean and is seldom seen from land. It migrates off the Washington coast and is often seen on pelagic birding trips.
The adult Sabine’s Gull has a distinctive three-colored wing pattern. The back (mantel) and inner wing feathers (coverts) form a gray triangle, and the outer primary feathers form a black triangle, in between a bright white triangle stretches across the back edge of the wing. The three triangles form a striking display. In summer, the adult has a dark gray hood outlined in black and a black bill with yellow tip. Juveniles lack the yellow on the bill, and the back and sides are dark, brownish gray, but the wings show the black and white triangles.
Sabine’s Gull borrows behaviors from other bird species. It socializes with terns often nesting within or near an Arctic Tern colony. Its flight is buoyant and tern-like and it will feed by dipping its bill into the water. During breeding, it will use a distraction display similar to that of shorebirds to move intruders away from the nest.
Sabine’s Gull
Scientific Name: Xema sabini
Length: 13.5”
Wingspan: 33”
Weight: 6 oz (180 g)
AOU Alpha Code: SAGU
ARCTIC BREEDER
Sabine’s Gulls breed in western and northern Alaska in the large Yukon River delta region and at Teshekpuk Lake among other areas across the Arctic coastal plain. The breeding range continues in two directions, eastward across northern Canada, and westward to Siberia. The nest sites are typically found in marshy areas of the tundra where there are also small ponds. Sabine’s Gulls will sometimes share a pond with Short-billed Gulls and nest in small colonies of three to four pairs at the edge of the pond or on a small island.
Their nest is constructed when the one of the gulls repeatedly presses their chest into moss to create a depression or scrape. The nest area is rarely lined with grass (Day et al). Most often the two brown-spotted, olive-colored eggs are deposited directly on the ground. Both sexes hibernate the eggs for about three and a half weeks and actively protect the nest by harassing intruders or attempting to distract them away from the nest (Kaufman).
LONG-DISTANCE MIGRANT
Once the chicks have fledged and reached flying age, Sabine’s Gulls migrate south to semitropical regions. Those that breed in Greenland and eastern Canada migrate across the North Atlantic and then south to winter off the coast of Africa. Those from Alaska, western Canada, and Siberia fly along the western coast of North and South America to winter off Peru and Ecuador in areas enriched by the upwelling of cold water from the Humboldt current. In August and September, Sabine’s Gulls are seen regularly on pelagic boating trips out of Grays Harbor, WA.
CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT
Sabine’s Gulls spend most of their lives at sea or in far northern regions and this may help protect the population from disturbance by human activities. According to BirdLife International, Sabine’s Gull is a species of least concern and there are no management plans in place. However, there are some records which indicate the Russian population is declining and breeding areas are patchy and the gull has been nominated for inclusion on that country’s Red Book (Day et al).
WHAT’S IN A GULL’S NAME?
The common English name of Sabine’s Gull seems to be the product of imagination and family ties. It is the only gull in the genus Xema, which is a word coined by William Elford Leach (1790-1836) and seems to have no known meaning. Sir Edward Sabine (1788-1883) was an astronomer who accompanied John Ross on his 1818 voyage in search of a northwest passage through the Arctic. He was also an ornithologist and while in Greenland he shot several of these newly-discovered gulls. After adding them to his collection, he sent them to London where his older brother Joseph Sabine displayed the gull at the Linnean Society. Joseph also named the gull after the “original discoverer,” that is, his brother. The bird was known to Native Alaskans, and I found three forms of the Inupiaq name for this gull: kadgagiak, aqargiyiaq, and iqirgagiaq. I could not find a literal translation of these names, but it is known that this gull was also referred to as a fork-tailed gull.
Photo credit: Tom Benson / Flickr
References available upon request from amccormick@eastsideaudubon.org.