Dictionary

Sabine's en · NOUN

Meanings

1. (abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis) Ellipsis of Sabine's gull.
   alt of Sabine's gull
   • But it has been pointed out that the courtship displays of the swallow-tailed gull, easily observed on the Galápagos, differ considerably from those of Sabine’s gull. Did a Sabine’s flock once colonize the Galápagos and fail to migrate north? If not the Sabine’s, which species was the ancestor of the swallow-tailed gull? 2002, John Kricher, “All the Birds Were So Tame”, in Galápagos (Smithsonian Natural History Series), Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, →ISBN, page 123:
   • Well, the basic flight pattern of juvenile Kittiwake and Sabine’s Gull are indeed very similar. I defy any sea-watcher to deny – hand on heart – that he hasn’t strung the odd ‘Kitti’ in his time … even if his conscience got the better of him before he actually claimed a Sabine’s. […] I also knew I had never seen a Sabine’s – until that moment. […] It wasn’t a Kittiwake – more like a Little Gull in fact – but it was, without doubt, a Sabine’s. 1994, Bill Oddie, “Simply the Best: Scilly”, in Follow That Bird! Around the World with a Passionate Bird-Watcher, London: Robson Books, →ISBN, page 39:
   • On a pelagic trip to Stellwagen Bank off the Boston coast, I watched a group of this type take a humpback whale in stride, get mildly stirred by the schoolmarm’s jaeger, and merely glance at a shearwater. But they changed their tune when a Sabine’s gull emerged from a flock of unremarkables. “A Sabine’s!” yelled one. “I can’t believe it!” She rummaged her checklist out of her backpack. 2000, Ann Taylor, “Watching the Watchers”, in Watching Birds: Reflections on the Wing, Camden, Me.: Ragged Mountain Press / McGraw-Hill, →ISBN, page 8:

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