Sabine's gull | |
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Adult in Iceland | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Charadriiformes |
Family: | Laridae |
Genus: | Xema Leach, 1819 |
Species: | X. sabini
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Binomial name | |
Xema sabini | |
Range Breeding Migration Non-breeding
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Sabine's gull (/ˈseɪbaɪn/ SAY-bine or /ˈsæbaɪn/ SAB-ine) (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.[2] 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.