SABINE'S GULL (Xema sabini ) 



Status . --Casual spring and fall transient over the Continental Shelf. 



Records .--! offshore record of an ad, 12C km ESE Ocean City (38°09'N, 

 73°45'W), 9 May 1976 (Rowlett 1976b). On shore records in Maryland on 28 May 

 1973 (DuMont 1976), 21 May 1976 (Carlson 1976), and 8 September 1977 (Scott 

 1978) support the probable status. These represent the only Sabine's gull 

 records for the northern Chesapeake Bight. 



FORSTER'S TERN (S terna forsteri ) 



Status . --Uncommon to locally common breeding bird along the coast of the 

 Del marva Peninsula. Uncommon fall migrant over shallow coastal waters usually 

 within 20 km of shore. Rare straggler in winter. 



Records . -1, 133 km E Rehoboth Beach (38°4rN, 73°34'W), 13 August 1975; 

 9, 2-20 km E Ocean City, 19 November 1972; 3, ca 8 km E Ocean City, 12 January 

 1975. 



COMMON TERN (Sterna hirundo ) 



Status. --Common breeding bird during summer along the coast of the Del- 

 marva Peninsula;most common over shallow coastal waters within 20 km of shore, 

 but occasionally seen offshore to the edge of the Continental Shelf (Fig. 29). 



Normal period of occurrence . --Early April to mid-November. 



Maximum counts . --260 in 5 h, 2-9 km E Ocean City, 14 May 1972; 110 in 

 3 h, 2-75 km E Cape Henlopen, Delaware, 11 August 1975. 



E 

 o 



^-» 



1000-1 



500 - 



100- 



40- 



30 - 



20 - 



10 - 



- 



X 

 X 

 X 



X 



X 



X 



I I 



X 

 X 

 X 



X 

 X 



— I 1 f 



J F M A 



M 



J J 



month 



1-^ — \ — 



S O N D 



pl37 



- 118 

 -111 



- 95 



- 77 



- 54 



- 19 

 ■- 



^. 

 <1> 



E 

 o 



I =0.1-1.0 I =1.1-10 ■ =11-40 



MEAN NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS OBSERVED PER HOUR 

 X = ZONE NOT SAMPLED IN THIS MONTH 



Figure 29. Seasonal abundance and seaward distribution patterns of the common 



terns in the northern Chesapeake Bight, 1971-1977. 



40 



