Animalia Life

Larus saundersi
SUBFAMILY
Larinae
TAXONOMY
Chroicocephalus saundersi Swinhoe, 1871, Fujian, China. Monotypic.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Chinese black-headed gull; French: Mouette de Saunders; German: Saundermцwe; Spanish: Gaviota de Saunders.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
11.4–12.6 in (29–32 cm), weight undocumented. Head and nape black, white eye crescents, neck white with pale gray upperparts, white flight feathers, tail white, underparts white, scarlet bill with dark subterminal band. Nonbreeding adult mainly white except for dark eye coverts (juvenile similar).
DISTRIBUTION
Coastal eastern China from Liaoning through Hebei and Shandong to Jiangsu. Spends the winter from South Korea to southern Japan and North Vietnam.
HABITAT
Breeds in coastal wetlands and winters along the coast or on freshwater near the coast; not pelagic.
BEHAVIOR
Diurnal; little known of its
BEHAVIOR
.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Feeds mainly along coast on coastal mudflats and in coastal lagoons.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
All known colonies are on coastal salt marshes. Normally lay three eggs, with clutches of five or six eggs suggesting femalefemale pairs.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Vulnerable; total population estimated below 5,000 and might be as low as 3,000. All seven known colonies are on lands slated for development for oil exploration, agriculture, or aquaculture.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
This gull breeds in coastal salt marshes that are highly prized for agricultural development; therefore, their breeding is often disturbed. Villagers collect eggs for food.

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