Sabine's Gull

Status Rare transient. The first record, not fully confirmed, was at Cape Sable on 4 and 12 March 1961 (B.J. and S. Smith). Two adults seen on 5 Febnuary 1965 and one seen on 19 December 1966 at Sable Island (C. and N. Bell) were unseasonable. In 1969 an adult, well-described by Davis Finch, was seen on Sable Island on 27 August; another bird was observed from MV Bluenose, 16 km off Yarmouth on 30 September. Other Sable Island sightings were on 12 September 1974, 12 June 1977, 26 May 1978 (photographed) and 19 June 1979; and a bird was seen some 70 km southeast of the island on 13 April 1976. There were two birds at Cape Sable on 28 December 1977, later confirmed by Christmas Bird Count observers on 2 January 1978. Finally, three were seen on the Nova Scotian side of Cabot Strait on 8 August 1980, and single birds were seen at Brier lsland on 4-7 June 1981 and at Seal Island on 16 0ctober 1983.

Description Length: 34 cm. Adults in breeding plumage: Hood dark gray, bordered with black; bill black, with yellow spot at tip; feet black; outer primaries black, tipped with white; secondaries and inner primaries white; back and upper wing coverts gray; remaining plumage white; tail weakly forked; the forepart of the hood is lost in winter. Juveniles: Nape, upper neck, upper wing coverts and back medium brown, striated with dark brown; tip of tail black.

Range Breeds in the North American and Eurasian Arctic; winters off the northwestern coast of South America and off western Africa.

Remarks The striking wing pattern of adults is unmistakable, and immature birds only superficially resemble young kittiwakes. Most Sabine's Gulls that breed in the Canadian Arctic travel directly across the Atlantic to the Bay of Biscay in the fall, well north of our area, and similarly return well offshore to the north. Our spring and fall birds were at the fringe of their migration routes, but our few winter birds are quite unexpected.