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Xema sabini

(Sabine, 1819)

Sabine's Gull

G5Secure Found in 16 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.106341
Element CodeABNNM06010
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassAves
OrderCharadriiformes
FamilyLaridae
GenusXema
Other Common Names
Gaviota Cola Hendida, Gaviota de Sabine (ES) Mouette de Sabine (FR)
Concept Reference
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
Conservation Status
Rank MethodExpertise without calculation
Review Date2016-04-10
Change Date1996-11-27
Range Extent Comments
BREEDS: Arctic coasts and islands from western Alaska east through arctic Canada, Greenland, Spitsbergen, and Siberia. Nonbreeders occur in summer to northern Ellesmere Island (probably breeding), central Alberta, southern Saskatchewan, central Manitoba, northern Ontario, and northeastern Quebec. NORTHERN WINTER: at sea in eastern Pacific, Panama south to central Chile; less commonly in Atlantic (primarily tropical areas); especially in upwelling areas of Humboldt Current off western South America and Benguela Current off Southwest Africa (AOU 1983, Johnson and Herter 1989).
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

NONBREEDING: primarily pelagic, casually along coasts or in inland waters (AOU 1983). BREEDING: Nests in wet meadows and salt-grass flats, wet tundra, along coasts or on islands (barrier island or island of tundra lake or pond). Nests on the ground, in a depression lined with grasses.

Ecology

Often nests in association with Arctic Terns (defensive behavior of terns may enhance reproductive success of gulls).

Reproduction

Eggs are laid from mid-June to early July. Clutch size is 2-3. Incubation, by both sexes, last 20-23 days, sometimes up to 25 days. Clutch initiation dates from 14 June to 3 July on Southampton Island, Hudson Bay; hatching dates 6 to 22 July (Stenhouse et al. 2001, Abraham 1986). Nesting strongly influenced by completion of snowmelt (Stenhouse et al. 2001). Some can fly at 30 days. Usually nests in small colonies, may also nest in single pairs (Terres 1980, Abraham 1986).
Terrestrial Habitats
Grassland/herbaceousTundra
Palustrine Habitats
HERBACEOUS WETLANDRiparian
Other Nations (2)
CanadaN4B,NNRN,N5M
ProvinceRankNative
NunavutS4BYes
OntarioS1MYes
AlbertaSUMYes
Northwest TerritoriesS4Yes
QuebecS3MYes
British ColumbiaS4MYes
SaskatchewanSNAYes
Island of NewfoundlandSNAYes
Yukon TerritoryS2MYes
ManitobaSNAYes
United StatesN5B
ProvinceRankNative
UtahSNAYes
New YorkSNRNYes
ColoradoSNAYes
CaliforniaSNAYes
MichiganSNRNYes
KansasSNAYes
MinnesotaSNRMYes
OregonSNAYes
New MexicoS4NYes
MassachusettsS1NYes
VermontSNAYes
IllinoisSNAYes
TexasSNAYes
AlaskaS5BYes
ArizonaS2MYes
IdahoSNAYes
South DakotaSNAYes
WyomingSNAYes
North CarolinaSNAYes
Threat Assessments
ThreatScopeSeverityTiming
11 - Climate change & severe weatherPervasive (71-100%)UnknownLow (long-term)
11.1 - Habitat shifting & alterationPervasive (71-100%)UnknownLow (long-term)

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Roadless Areas (16)
Alaska (6)
AreaForestAcres
Five MileTongass National Forest19,459
SpiresTongass National Forest533,746
Upper SitukTongass National Forest16,789
Windham-Port HoughtonTongass National Forest161,952
WoewodskiTongass National Forest10,136
Yakutat ForelandsTongass National Forest323,648
California (3)
AreaForestAcres
Devil's Gate (CA)Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest9,946
Log Cabin SaddlebagInyo National Forest15,165
Mt. JacksonHumboldt-Toiyabe National Forest20,721
Idaho (1)
AreaForestAcres
Borah PeakSalmon-Challis National Forest130,463
Montana (1)
AreaForestAcres
Cube Iron - SilcoxLolo National Forest36,998
Oregon (3)
AreaForestAcres
Cook RidgeWallowa-Whitman National Forest19,617
Mountain SheepWallowa-Whitman National Forest19,457
TahkenitchSiuslaw National Forest5,799
Washington (2)
AreaForestAcres
EntiatWenatchee National Forest72,617
Rock CreekWenatchee National Forest32,239
References (28)
  1. Abraham, D. M. 1986. Observations on the breeding biology of Sabine's gull (XEMA SABINI). Can. J. Zool. 64:898-903.
  2. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
  3. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in <i>The Auk</i>]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
  4. BirdLife International. 2004b. Threatened birds of the world 2004. CD ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.
  5. Burger, J. and M. Gochfeld. 1996. Family Laridae (gulls). Pages 572-623 in J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, and J. Sargatal (Eds.) Handbook of the birds of the world. Vol. 3. Lynx Editions, Barcelona, Spain.
  6. Evans, P. G. H. 1984a. The seabirds of Greenland: their status and conservation. Pages 49-84 in Croxall et al., eds. Status and conservation of the world's seabirds. ICBP Tech. Pub. No. 2.
  7. Gaston, A. J., and J. M. Hipfner. 2000. Thick-billed Murre (<i>Uria lomvia</i>). No. 497 IN A. Poole and F. Gill, editors, The birds of North America. The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. 32pp.
  8. Gaston, A. J., et al. 1994. Population parameters of thick-billed murres at Coats Island, Northwest Territories, Canada. Condor 96:935-948.
  9. Godfrey, W.E. 1966. The birds of Canada. National Museums of Canada. Ottawa. 428 pp.
  10. Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio.
  11. Howell, S. N. G., and S. Webb. 1995. A guide to the birds of Mexico and northern Central America. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
  12. Johnson, S. R. and D. R. Herter. 1989. The Birds of the Beaufort Sea. BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., Anchorage, Alaska. 372 pp.
  13. Mostello, C. S., N. A. Palaia, and R. B. Clapp. 2000. Gray-backed Tern (Sterna lunata). No. 525 in A. Poole and F. Gill (editors). The birds of North America. The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. 28 pp.
  14. National Geographic Society (NGS). 1983. Field guide to the birds of North America. National Geographic Society, Washington, DC.
  15. Parker III, T. A., D. F. Stotz, and J. W. Fitzpatrick. 1996. Ecological and distributional databases for neotropical birds. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
  16. Peterson, R.T. 1980b. A field guide to the birds of eastern and central North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston.
  17. Peterson, R.T. 1990b. A field guide to western birds. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston.
  18. Pons, J. M., A. Hassanin, and P. A. Crochet. 2005. Phylogenetic relationships within the Laridae (Charadriiformes: Aves) inferred from mitochondrial markers. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 37:686-699.
  19. Rappole, J.H., Morton, E.S., Lovejoy, T.E. and Ruos, J.L. 1983. Nearctic avian migrants in the Neotropics. U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service and World Wildlife Fund, Washington D.C.
  20. Ridgely, R. S. 2002. Distribution maps of South American birds. Unpublished.
  21. Ridgely, R. S. and J. A. Gwynne, Jr. 1989. A Guide to the Birds of Panama. 2nd edition. Princeton University Press, Princeton, USA.
  22. Schreiber, E. A., R. W. Schreiber, and G. A. Schenk. 1996. Red-footed Booby (<i>Sula sula</i>). No. 241 in A. Poole and F. Gill, editors. The birds of North America. The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The Amerian Ornithologists' Union, Washington, DC. 24 pp.
  23. Sibley, D. A. 2000a. The Sibley guide to birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
  24. Stenhouse, I. J., H. G. Gilchrist, and W. A. Montevecchi. 2001. Reproductive biology of Sabine's Gull in the Canadian Arctic. Condor 103:98-107.
  25. Stiles, F. G. and A. F. Skutch. 1989. A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, USA. 511 pp.
  26. Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
  27. The American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). Banks, R.C., R.T. Chesser, C. Cicero, J.L. Dunn, A.W. Kratter, I.J. Lovette, P.C. Rasmussen, J.V. Remsen, Jr., J.D. Rising, D.F. Stotz, and K. Winker. 2008. Forty-ninth supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds. The Auk 125(3):758-768.
  28. Zook, J. L. 2002. Distribution maps of the birds of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. Unpublished.