By Jennifer Roof
Geographic Range
In North America, the Black-legged Kittiwake spans both coasts, as far north as the ice-free waters of Alaska in the west and the Great Banks of Newfoundland in the east. It lives as far south as Baja, California in the west and the tip of Florida in the east. Outside of America it can be found in nearly every coastal area of the world, given the proper habitat is available. This includes the coast of Norway, Britian, France, and the former Soviet Union, along with China, Japan, Korea, Central Europe, and nw. Africa.
Biogeographic Regions:
nearctic 
(native ); palearctic (native ); oriental (native ); ethiopian (native ); neotropical (native ); australian (native ).
Habitat
The Black-legged Kittiwake nests on ledges of offshore islands, sea stacks, or inaccessible areas of coastal mainland. It also nests on steep earthen slopes, large boulders, glaciers, and cliff-like man-made structures, such as shipwrecks and skyscrapers. A true shoreline species, it rarely comes very far inland, even in the winter.
Aquatic Biomes:
coastal .
Physical Description
The Black-legged Kittiwake is a small gull, with a pearl gray back and wings and a stark white head and underside. The tips of the tail feathers are black. The adult bill is uniformly greenish-yellow. In spite of its name, its legs can be orange or red, although they are most commonly black.
Some key physical features:
endothermic ; bilateral symmetry .
Reproduction
Pairs are generally monogamous, although males attempt to mate with other partners. In a study done in Britian, 64% of pairs remained together from one breeding season to the next. Due to their global distribution, it is difficult to give precise copulation, incubation, and hatching dates for kittiwakes. Black-legged Kittiwakes nest on cliffs, and the male retains the same nest site from year to year. After the nest is ready, 1 to 3 eggs are laid. The male and female incubate the eggs for about 25 days. At this time the chicks hatch. The parents seem to share the responsibilities for the chicks evenly, with both sexes feeding and brooding the young.
Key reproductive features:
iteroparous ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; oviparous .
Behavior
With a tern-like wingbeat the Black-legged Kittiwake is highly manueverable. It is able to land on narrow ledges in strong winds. It nests in interspecific colonies, with 51 to 57 cm between nests.
Key behaviors:
flies; motile .
Food Habits
Unlike many gulls, the Black-legged Kittiwake does not feed at dumps. Rather, it feeds on the water surface. An opportunistic feeder, it feeds on small surface fish and invertebrates. It prefer fishs, and the species consumed most often are capelin, sandlance, arctic cod, pollock, saffron cod, small trout, and young salmon.
Conservation Status
IUCN Red List: [link]:
Least Concern.
US Migratory Bird Act: [link]:
Protected.
US Federal List: [link]:
No special status.
CITES: [link]:
No special status.
State of Michigan List: [link]:
No special status.
Although there is no special status for the Black-legged Kittiwake, fishing poses a possible threat to population size. As fish stocks decline along coastal areas, species that are kittiwake prey are being harvested. This may lead to disasterous effects on the population of kittiwakes, which often depending largely on one major source for food.
Other Comments
The Black-legged Kittiwake has many adaptations to nesting on vertical sea cliffs, including facing towards the cliff, so that their tails project over the edge and their feet are on solid ground.
Contributors
Jennifer Roof (author), University of Michigan.
