Sabine's Gull

Xema sabini (Sabine, 1819)

Sabine's Gull, Xema sabini, breeds patchily on Arctic coasts across the Palearctic and North America, and spends the non-breeding season in coastal and offshore waters from northern South America to northern Chile and from Angola to south-eastern Africa. It is a small gull and the only species placed in Xema. The bird has a black bill with a yellow tip and a slightly forked white tail. It is also known historically as fork-tailed gull or xeme.

Order

Charadriiformes

Family

Laridae — Gulls, Terns, Skimmers

Breeding range

Palearctic, North America: patchily on Arctic coasts of nw, e Greenland, Svalbard (n of Norway), ne Siberia from Taimyr Pen. to Wrangel I. (n of Chukotka Pen.) and Gulf of Anadyr (e Chukotka Pen.; ne Russia); St. Lawrence I. (n Bering Sea), w, n Alaska and Arctic Canada

Nonbreeding range

coastal and offshore waters of n South America to n Chile and w Africa from Angola to s, se Africa