Species: Rissa tridactyla

Black-legged Kittiwake
Species
    Kingdom
    Animalia
    Phylum
    Craniata
    Class

    Aves

    Order

    Charadriiformes

    Family

    Laridae

    Genus

    Rissa

    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).
    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
    43
    Weight
    421
    NatureServe Global Status Rank
    G5
    Global Status Last Reviewed
    2008-01-09
    Global Status Last Changed
    1996-11-27
    Other Status

    LC - Least concern

    Conservation Status Map
    <img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?CA.BC=__&CA.LB=S2&CA.NB=S1&CA.NF=__&CA.NT=__&CA.NS=S2&CA.NU=SNR&CA.ON=__&CA.PE=__&CA.QC=S4&US.AL=__&US.AK=S5&US.CA=__&US.CO=__&US.DE=__&US.FL=__&US.GA=__&US.IL=__&US.ME=__&US.MD=__&US.MA=__&US.MI=__&US.MO=__&US.NH=__&US.NJ=__&US.NY=__&US.NC=__&US.OH=__&US.OR=__&US.PA=__&US.RI=__&US.SC=__&US.SD=__&US.TX=__&US.VA=__&US.WA=__" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
    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