Saundersilarus saundersi
Saunders's Gull (Saundersilarus saundersi) is a small, elegant gull, distinctive for its delicate appearance and vulnerable conservation status. Measuring approximately 29-32 cm in length with a wingspan of 75-80 cm, it is characterized by its breeding plumage's striking black hood, bright red bill with a black tip, and prominent white crescent markings above and below the eye, which persist in all plumages. Non-breeding adults exhibit a dark smudgy mask or patch behind the eye instead of a f...
This gull primarily inhabits coastal intertidal mudflats, estuaries, and salt marshes, often utilizing abandoned shrimp or fish ponds. It is exclusively found at low elevations, typically sea level.
Their diet consists mainly of small marine invertebrates, including polychaete worms, small crustaceans, and insects, supplemented by small fish. They primarily forage by probing the soft substrates of mudflats.
Saunders's Gulls are primarily diurnal, spending their days foraging on exposed mudflats and roosting communally in sheltered areas during high tide or at night. Their foraging strategy involves slow walking and probing their short, delicate bills into soft mud for invertebrates, occasionally pic...
Saunders's Gull exhibits a highly restricted breeding range primarily along the coastal wetlands of eastern China, notably in provinces such as Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong, as well as parts of North Korea and South Korea. Sporadic and small breeding populations have also been recorde...
Vulnerable
- It is one of the smallest gulls in the world, and the smallest of the "hooded gulls. - The species was named after Howard Saunders, a renowned British ornithologist who specialized in gulls and terns. - Its distinctive white eye-crescents are a key identification feature, present in all plumage...