Saunders's Gull

Saunders's gull is a small, compact gull 29–33 cm long, with a wingspan of 85–91 cm and a weight of about 170–220 g. Breeding adults have a black head set off by white eyelids, a short black bill, pale grey mantle, white body and dark red legs. In winter the head becomes white with a dark smudge behind the eye. Juveniles are scaly brown-grey, while first-winter birds retain a narrow dark tail band and a strongly patterned wing (BirdForum species account).

It breeds in coastal saltmarsh around the Yellow Sea in eastern China and western Korea, then winters along East Asian shores south to northern Vietnam. Colonies are often established in wet saltmarsh vegetation, where a shallow nest usually holds three eggs. Outside the breeding season birds forage over estuarine tidal flats with a buoyant, harrier-like flight, dropping to seize small crabs, marine worms, fish and shrimp exposed by the tide (BirdForum species account; Birds Korea; Scientific Reports 2026).