Sabine's Gull, Xema sabini


Sabine's Gull
Sabine's Gulls breed in the arctic, and spend the rest of the year at sea. Above and below, adults in breeding plumage.


Sabine's Gull

Sabine's Gull
Above and below, adults in Fall, molting from breeding to non-breeding plumage; the bird above shows the Sabine's beautiful dorsal pattern.


Sabine's Gull

Sabine's Gull
Non-breeding plumage, with the breeding all-black head replaced by mostly white with a lateral black streak at the back of the crown. The gray smudging behind the dark streak suggests that this may be second-year rather than the very similar adult non-breeding plumage.

Sabine's Gull
Juvenile Sabine's Gulls in September. Above, one that strayed into San Francisco Bay and spent some time in the ponds of the Sunnyvale Water Pollution Control Plant; below, a more normal sighting, flying in the Pacific Ocean near the Farallon Islands.

Sabine's Gull

Sabine's Gull and Long-tailed Jaeger
Above, breeding-plumage adult trailed by intermediate morph juvenile Long-tailed Jaeger. Below, molting adult left, juvenile right.

Sabine's Gulls