Species: Rissa tridactyla

Black-legged Kittiwake

Species

Birds

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Salish Sea-reliant birds

Species of concern in the Salish Sea

Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

Classification

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Craniata

Class

Aves

Order

Charadriiformes

Family

Laridae

Genus

Rissa

NatureServe

Source:
ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.104258

Classification

Other Global Common Names

Gaviota Tridáctila - mouette tridactyle

Informal Taxonomy

Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Other Birds

Formal Taxonomy

Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Charadriiformes - Laridae - Rissa - generally has a longer bill, slightly larger size, a better developed hind toe/claw, and more black in the primaries (Baird 1994).

Ecology and Life History

Short General Description

A small gull.

Migration

false - false - true - Occurs in winter in southern part of breeding range; migratory status in those areas? Arrives in breeding areas late February-early March in south, April-May in north (Terres 1980). Fall migration from Beaufort Sea region apparently begins in late August (Johnson and Herter 1989).

Non-migrant

false

Locally Migrant

false

Food Comments

Feeds on small fishes, mollusks, crustaceans, and plankton. Feeds from surface, mostly at sea; follows ships in large flocks and eats refuse. Drinks salt water.

Reproduction Comments

Eggs laid mostly in June at Semidi Islands, Alaska (Hatch and Hatch 1988). Clutch size 1-3 (usually 2). Incubation by both sexes, 23-32 days (Terres 1980) (also reported as 25-31 days). Young tended by both adults, depart nest at 36-53 days (average 42, see Hatch and Hatch 1990); can fly at about 38-48 days (Terres 1980); fledging begins in August in Alaska (Hatch and Hatch 1988). Rarely more than 1 young survives to fledging (Braun and Hunt 1983). Nests in large colonies. In western Alaska, reproductive success generally was low or nil in years with cold spring weather (Murphy et al. 1991).

Ecology Comments

Ravens regularly prey on eggs and chicks and at least sometimes on adults. Adult annual survivorship was about 80% in one study (Aebischer 1990).

Length

Weight

421

Conservation Status

NatureServe Global Status Rank

Global Status Last Reviewed

2008-01-09

Global Status Last Changed

1996-11-27

Other Status

LC - Least concern

Distribution

Conservation Status Map

Global Range

Breeding range is circumpolar and primarily includes islands and suitable shores of the Arctic Ocean, southward to the Aleutian Islands and southern Alaska, southeastern Canada, France, Kuril Islands, and Sakhalin, Russia. During the nonbreeding season, the western (Pacific) population occurs primarily from the pack ice edge south to Baja California, Mexico; also along the northern coast of china to Japan, with small numbers in Korea and Turkestan. Eastern populations winter offshore from Newfoundland south to Florida and the Gulf coast. European populations winter south to northwestern Africa. The species occurs casually in Hawaii, interior North America, and Italy (Baird 1994).

ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.104258