Mouette de Sabine— Quebec wildlife

Sabine's gull ( SAY-bin; Xema sabini) is a small gull. It is usually treated as the only species placed in the genus Xema, though some authors include it with other gulls in a wide view of the genus Larus. It has also been known historically as fork-tailed gull or xeme (from the genus name). It breeds in colonies on Arctic coasts and tundra, laying two or three spotted olive-brown eggs in a ground nest lined with grass. Sabine's gull is pelagic outside the breeding season. It takes a wide variety of mainly animal food, and will eat any suitable small prey.

Description

Sabine's gull is a small gull, 27 to 33 cm (10+1⁄2–13 in) in length and weighing 135 to 225 g (4+3⁄4–8 oz). The wings are long, thin and pointed with a span of between 81 and 87 cm (32–34+1⁄2 in). The bill, which is black with a yellow tip, is around 2.5 cm (1 in) long. This species is easy to identify through its striking wing pattern, though at long range it can be confused with immature black-legged kittiwakes. The adult has a pale grey back and wing coverts, four black outer primary flight feathers, and white inner primaries and secondaries. The white tail is slightly forked. The adult's hood darkens during breeding season to dark grey with a narrow black collar at the base of the hood. Young birds have a similar tricoloured wing pattern, but the grey is replaced by brown, and the tail has a black terminal band. Juveniles take two years to attain full adult plumage. Sabine's gulls have an unusual moult pattern for gulls. Fledged birds retain their juvenile plumage through the autumn and do not start moulting into their first winter plumage until they have reached their wintering grounds. Adults have their complete moult in the spring prior to the spring migration, and have a partial moult in the autumn after returning to the wintering area, a reversal of the usual pattern for gulls. They have a very high-pitched and squeaking call.