Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla)
(aka Black-legged Kittiwake)
The Kittiwake is the most numerous gull in the world with about 7 million pairs.
Kittiwake
Related Category: Vertebrate Zoology
see gull.
More on Kittiwake
Gull - common name for an aquatic bird of the family Laridae, which also includes the tern and the jaeger. It is found near all oceans and many inland waters.
Kittiwakes are coastal breeding birds ranging in the North Pacific, North Atlantic and Arctic oceans. They form large, dense, noisy colonies during the summer reproductive period, often sharing habitat with murres.
Kittiwake Nests Line The Narrow Ledges.
In the picture below a flying Gannet approaches Bird Rock for a landing.Every ledge in the cliff in the background is lined with Kittiwake nests.
Close Neighbors ...
THE KITTIWAKE GULL.
[Black-Legged Kittiwake.]
LARUS TRIDACTYLUS, Linn.
[Rissa tridactyla.] ...
Inland kittiwakes
The Nature of Britain
Newcastle has become a holiday home for these birds who come great distances to breed here.
The name "kittiwake" is derived from the bird's peculiar cry. Fishermen off southern Nova Scotia know it as the "fall gull." ...
Red-legged Kittiwakes feed mainly on small fish (especially lampfish and Pollock), squid, and marine zooplankton. During the summer breeding period, this species is found foraging over deep water, ranging from 200 to 2,000 meters deep.
Help the Kittiwake
Get incredible close-up views of elegant kittiwakes, and their adorable chicks, at some of the UK's most accessible kittiwake colonies.
Join us one of our seabird projects ...
Black-legged Kittiwake
Rissa tridactyla
The small colony of Black-legged Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) shown here was in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska, in August, 2008.
Red-legged kittiwake Rissa brevirostris
Identification Tips:
Length: 15 inches
Sexes similar
Medium-sized gull
Short bill with indistinct gonydeal angle
Dark gray mantle ...
Black-legged Kittiwake
In flight, Heligoland, Germany
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1) ...
Black-legged Kittiwake Behaviour
No observations regarding Black-legged Kittiwake behavior have been submitted to the database yet.
Interesting Facts about Black-legged Kittiwakes ...
Black-legged Kittiwake Photos
I've seen one of these near South Dakota...at Gavin's Point Dam one fall. I saw THOUSANDS at one time during a wildlife cruise off the coast of Seward, Alaska in the summer of 2006.
The black-legged kittiwakecan be found along both the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts from Canada south to California and Florida. It is also found in Eurasia.
Only the Red-legged Kittiwake Rissa brevirostris shares the solid black wingtips and plain yellow bill of the adult Black-legged Kittiwake. The adult Red-legged Kittiwake has a darker mantle, shorter bill, darker color underprimaries, and red legs.
Kittiwake, Black-legged aka Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla Found: North America, Europe
Photographed by: 1) Alan D Wilson at Zapadni Cliffs, St. Paul Island, Alaska 2 - 5) Dick Daniels in Scotland ...
Black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla)
Sandwich tern (Sterna sandvicensis)
Ruddy turnstone (Arenaria interpres)
Common eel (Anguilla anguilla)
Puffin (Fratercula arctica)
Northern bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) ...
Black-legged Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla. Rare in winter and spring, and occasional to rare in fall in Gulf Coast and Tennessee Valley regions. Found in the Gulf, and on large lakes.
The black-legged kittiwake will not recover from disastrous population decline unless sand eel fisheries off eastern Scotland and north-east England stay closed. (more) ...
Of the species of Rissa, one is the abundant and well-known kittiwake, R. tridactyla, of circumpolar range, breeding, however, also in comparatively low latitudes, as on the coasts of Britain, and in winter frequenting southern waters.
* Kittiwake or Black-legged Kittiwake, Rissa tridactyla
* Red-legged Kittiwake, Rissa brevirostris
* Laughing Gull, Larus atricilla
* Lava Gull, Larus fuliginosus
* Lesser Black-backed Gull, Larus fuscus
* Little Gull, Larus minutus ...
3. A wall of Black-legged Kittiwakes in Prince William Sound seen from our tour boat
4. Bald Eagle on a dead tree
5. Black-billed Magpie on the road to Seward ...
(Blackfooted Albatross and Red-legged Kittiwake), and two are nonbreeding visitors to the Asian region from Christmas Island (Australia) (Abbott's Booby and Christmas Island Frigatebird).
Many species nest or feed inland, and most of the rest are strictly
coastal; only the kittiwakes are truly oceanic during the nonbreeding
season.
The pelagic is a type of bird whose habitat is on the open ocean rather than in a coastal region or on inland bodies of water (lakes, rivers). An example of a pelagic bird is the blacklegged kittiwake.
Parts of a Standing bird
X ...
Tawny owls prey on a variety of animals, ranging from mostly woodland rodents to other small mammals, amphibians, birds, beetles, and worms. Birds represent a larger percentage of their diet in urban areas, including mallards and kittiwakes.
 See also: Puffin, Gannet, Guillemot, Murre, Shearwater
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