Black-legged Kittiwake
Rissa tridactyla

Conservation status | Local populations fluctuate considerably. In recent decades, major increases in some eastern Canadian colonies, major decreases at some in Bering Sea. Climate change is likely to have negative impacts on many bird species of the far north. |
---|---|
Family | Gulls and Terns |
Habitat | Chiefly oceanic. Spends most of year at sea, with wide range of conditions, from edge of pack ice to moderately warm waters off Baja. Favors areas of upwellings, and sometimes concentrates over edge of continental shelf, but may occur from coast to hundreds of miles out. Nests on ledges of steep cliffs on northern islands and mainland. |
Photo Gallery
Feeding Behavior
Does much foraging in flight, dipping down to take items at surface or plunging into water to take prey below surface; also feeds by seizing items at surface while swimming.
Eggs
1-3. Variable, olive or pale blue to tan, speckled with darker brown and gray. Incubation is by both parents, 25-28 days. Young: Remain in nest until ready to fly, are fed by both parents. Age at first flight 34-58 days; young may return to nest at night for several weeks.
Young
Remain in nest until ready to fly, are fed by both parents. Age at first flight 34-58 days; young may return to nest at night for several weeks.
Diet
Mostly fish. Feeds mainly on small fish, often concentrating on one or two locally abundant species (such as sand lance or pollock). If fish numbers are low, eats many crustaceans, often including many euphausiid shrimp. Also eats marine worms, mollusks, small squid, insects, rarely plant material. Unlike most gulls, does not feed at garbage dumps.
Nesting
First breeds at age of 3-5 years. Male displays to attract female by going through "choking" motions, jerking head up and down with bill gradually opening. Pairs display by nodding heads, crossing necks; male feeds female. Nest site is on cliff ledge, often quite narrow; sometimes on boulders or on ground. (In Europe also nests on building ledges and roofs.) Nest (built by both sexes, with male bringing most of material) is mound of mud, grasses, seaweed, with shallow depression at center.
Illustration © David Allen Sibley.
Learn more about these drawings.
Text © Kenn Kaufman, adapted from
Lives of North American Birds
Download Our Bird Guide App
Migration
Most migration is offshore. A few, mostly young birds, come south through interior in autumn. In winter ranges from Labrador and southern Bering Sea south to Florida and northwestern Mexico. Very irregular in numbers off Pacific Coast in winter, numerous some years, almost absent in others. Strays have reached Hawaii and Peru.

- All Seasons - Common
- All Seasons - Uncommon
- Breeding - Common
- Breeding - Uncommon
- Winter - Common
- Winter - Uncommon
- Migration - Common
- Migration - Uncommon
See a fully interactive migration map for this species on the Bird Migration Explorer.
Learn moreSongs and Calls
Variety of loud harsh notes. Very noisy on breeding grounds. With a little imagination, its common call can seem to resemble its name: kittiwake.Learn more about this sound collection.