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The UK Bird Atlas

Sabine's Gull (Xema sabini)Where and when to see it in the UK

Status not yet classified · reporting peaks September · Skimmers, Noddies, Terns, and Gulls · BOU category A

Records to 2026-08-16 · build 2026-08-31

Sabine's Gull (Xema sabini)
Alaska Region U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service from Anchorage, United States, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Peak months
Sabine's Gull: relative reporting rate by 10 km square, September

Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (grid squares, place names from OS Open Names). Northern Ireland place names: OSNI Open Data, OGL v3.0. County and country boundaries: Office for National Statistics, Open Government Licence v3.0. Coastline: Natural Earth. Bird records from the data partners listed here.

Sabine's Gull has been recorded in 218 of the 2,971 10 km squares covering UK land (7%) in records to 2026. Its strongest squares are in England, Scotland and Wales. Reporting peaks in September.

Conservation status: Least Concern (IUCN Red List, LC)
View on the IUCN Red List
Relative to this species' best squares (how classes are calculated)
Very high
26% or more of visits
High
2% to 26%
Moderate
<1% to 2%
Low
under <1%
Surveyed, not recorded
at least 20 qualifying visits, no record
Insufficient records
too few visits to say
Lighter fill
Few visits, lower confidence
Small dot
Occasional: a single record, or out of season

Seasonality

Reporting rate by month, relative to the peak month
MonthRelative to peakShare of visitsTypical class
January 35%<1%Very high
February 11%<1%High
March 0%<1%Insufficient records
April 2%<1%High
May 1%<1%Moderate
June 0%<1%Very high
July 11%<1%High
August 85%<1%Moderate
September 100%<1%Very high
October 30%<1%Low
November 39%<1%Moderate
December 0%<1%Very high

Squares with the highest reporting rate in September

SquareWhereShare of visitsClass
C94Causeway Coast and Glens, Northern Ireland100%Very high
NG01Sea, off Highland100%Very high
NG59Sea, off Na h-Eileanan Siar100%Very high
NR26Argyll and Bute, Scotland100%Very high
NT17City of Edinburgh, Scotland100%Very high
NU30Sea, off Northumberland100%Very high
NX45Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland100%Very high
SC28Isle of Man100%Very high
SD33Lancashire, England100%Very high
SD34Lancashire, England100%Very high

Spotted an error in a square? Report it and it goes into the review queue. Read the methodology for how classes, flags and sensitive-species rules work. Data to 2026.