Black-legged Kittiwake
Rissa tridactyla
Vagrant to Ivvavik 3
This species is considered a vagrant to Ivvavik National Park, meaning that it is very rarely seen. If you see this species and manage to take a photo, please upload it to iNaturalist and/or send it to us directly at yukoncdc@gov.yk.ca. You will be helping us expand the scientific knowledge of this bird.
Morphology 4
The Black-legged Kittiwake is a small gull (317g), with a pearl gray back and wings and a stark white head and underside. The tips of the tail feathers are black. The adult bill is uniformly greenish-yellow. In spite of its name, its legs can be orange or red, although they are most commonly black.
Summary 5
Kittiwakes are true seabirds. They spend practically their entire life at sea. They only land on the coast to breed and make their nests on the steep cliffs of Heligoland, England, Scotland and Scandinavia. Since 2000, kittiwakes have also been breeding in Dutch territory, on drilling platforms at sea. Being at sea so much, they eat mostly fish, which they capture by hanging just above the water surface. They dive into the water as soon as they sight something that looks tasty. It's not difficult to make a mistake. When a kittiwake is found on the beach, it is usually a victim of marine litter, having mistaken it for something edible.
Threats 6
Potential threats include contamination of breeding and foraging habitat (e.g., from oil spills, contaminants such as mercury, and pesticides), depletion of prey species by commercial fisheries, and natural mortality from predation on eggs, chicks and adults, or chick death by falling from nests in breeding colonies (Baird 1994). These threats are neither widespread nor imminent.
Sources and Credits
- (c) Caleb Slemmons, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.flickr.com/photos/10028596@N00/7816179
- (c) Matt Muir, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://lh4.ggpht.com/-goZQZS4ayEw/UDoxdSrk4TI/AAAAAAAAO54/Lon95SHc6w0/P1140811.JPG
- (c) Yukon Conservation Data Centre, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA)
- Adapted by Yukon Conservation Data Centre from a work by (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31420722
- Adapted by Yukon Conservation Data Centre from a work by (c) Copyright Ecomare, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/28631912
- Adapted by Yukon Conservation Data Centre from a work by (c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/28898223
More Info
Range Map
iNaturalist.ca Map
| Color | grey, white |
|---|---|
| Animal | Bird |
| Bird | gull |
