General

Black-legged Kittiwake: Medium-sized white gull with pale gray back and upperwings and black wing tips. Bill is yellow and legs are black. Sexes are similar. Winter adult has pale gray crown and nape. Juvenile has dark gray spot behind eye and black bill, half-collar, wing patches and tail tip.

Range and Habitat

Black-legged Kittiwake: Breeds in north Pacific, Arctic Ocean, and Atlantic south to Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Spends winters from edge of sea ice southward, rarely to Gulf of Mexico; also in Eurasia. Nests on ledges of offshore islands, sea stacks, or inaccessible areas on coastal mainland.

Breeding and Nesting

Black-legged Kittiwake: One to three buff to olive or blue eggs with brown or gray speckles are laid in a nest made of grass and seaweeds plastered with mud and guano, and built on a narrow rocky ledge 10 to 20 feet above water. Incubation ranges from 25 to 32 days and is carried out by both parents.

Foraging and Feeding

Black-legged Kittiwake: Feeds mostly on fish. Also eats crustaceans, marine worms, mollusks, squid, insects, and sometimes plant material; forages on the water surface while in flight or swimming.

Vocalization

Black-legged Kittiwake: Series of piercing "kittiwakes." Also makes quieter "ock-ock-ock."

Similar Species

Black-legged Kittiwake: Red-legged Kittiwake has darker back, shorter bill, darker underwings, and red legs.