Kittiwake numbers
have more than halved since the mid–1980s across the UK,
and populations in Scotland
have crashed by almost two thirds. One Scottish Kittiwake breeding colony is
now extinct and others predicted to disappear within three years.
Climate change, is
believed to be responsible for the dramatic collapse.
Kittiwakes
The kittiwakes are two closely related
seabird species in the gull family Laridae. They are the Black-legged Kittiwake
- Rissa tridactyla - and the Red-legged
Kittiwake - Rissa brevirostris. "Black-legged"
and "Red-legged" are used to distinguish the two species in North
America, but in Europe, where Rissa
brevirostris is not found, the Black-legged Kittiwake is often known simply
as Kittiwake.
Description
The two species
are physically very similar. They have a white head and body, grey back, grey
wings tipped solid black and a yellow bill. Black-legged Kittiwake adults are
somewhat larger. Other differences include a shorter bill, larger eyes, a
larger, rounder head and darker grey wings in the Red-legged Kittiwake. While
most Black-legged Kittiwakes do, indeed, have dark-grey legs, some have
pinkish-grey to reddish legs, making colouration a somewhat unreliable
identifying marker. Juveniles have white underparts, gray back, gray patches on
nape and crown, dark spot at the ears, black collar, black wingtips, and a dark
bar across the wing. Wings show a dark "M" pattern in flight. Tail
white with a black tip. Legs black.
Call
The name is
derived from its call, a shrill 'kittee-wa-aaake, kitte-wa-aaake'.
Food
They are mainly
fish feeders, but do eat some marine invertebrates and do not scavenge at tips
like some other gull species.
Breeding
Kittiwakes are
coastal breeding birds ranging in the North Pacific, North
Atlantic and Arctic oceans. They are the only gull species that
are exclusively cliff-nesting. They form large, dense, noisy colonies during
the summer. One to three buff spotted eggs are laid in the nest lined with moss
or seaweed. The downy young of Kittiwakes are white, since they have no need of
camouflage from predators, and do not wander from the nest like the gulls for
obvious safety reasons.
Conservation Status – Least Concern
This species has
an extremely large range and as such is evaluated as Least Concern. However Climate change, is believed to be affecting
this species negatively as seen in the UK.
Birdwatching
Ask Aves Birding Tours to create a tour for
you to see these beautiful birds.