Saunders's Gull

Saundersilarus saundersi (Swinhoe, 1871)

≈36 cmLength198 gWeight

It is a very small, squat gull with a black head and short black bill in summer.

Busiest months: January and April–May · Most records: China, Japan, South Korea

Vulnerable

How to identify

Field marks

Hood and nape black in the breeding season
Bill short and black
Body and tail white; wings pale gray
Legs dark reddish-brown

Male, female and young

Hood and nape mottled gray in the non-breeding season; juvenile has a narrow black tail band and some dark patches on the wings.

Where and when it's recorded

Busiest months: January and April–May · Most records: China, Japan, South Korea

Saunders's Gull has been recorded at 253 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 4 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

To protect this bird from disturbance, we don't list exact sites.

Countries and regions with the most records

China Japan South Korea Vietnam

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

Saunders's gull (Saundersilarus saundersi) or Chinese black-headed gull, is a species of gull in the family Laridae. It is found in China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Macau (China), Russia, Taiwan (China), and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are estuarine waters and intertidal marshes.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions

How big is the Saunders's Gull?

The Saunders's Gull is about ≈36 cm long and weighs around 198 g.

Where does the Saunders's Gull live?

Its breeding range: Palearctic: coastal Liaoning to Jiangsu (Yellow Sea, eastern China) and Songdo (northwestern South Korea). It is most often recorded in China, Japan and South Korea.