Algeria, Austria (P), Bahamas, Belgium, Canada (B) (NB) (P), Cape Verde, China (mainland), Denmark (B) (NB) (P), Faroe Islands (B) (NB), France (B) (NB) (P), Germany (B) (NB) (P), Gibraltar (NB), Greece (NB), Greenland (B) (NB), Iceland (B) (NB), Ireland (B) (NB), Italy (NB), Japan, Lithuania (NB), Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands (B) (NB), North Korea, Norway (B), Poland (NB), Portugal (B) (NB), Russia (Asian) (B), Russia (European) (B), Slovakia (Slovak Republic) (NB), Slovenia (NB), South Korea, Spain (B) (NB), St Pierre and Miquelon (B) (NB), Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands (B), Sweden (B) (NB), Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey (NB), United Kingdom (B) (NB), USA (B), Western Sahara.
Vagrant to Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bulgaria (NB), Cayman Islands, Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska), Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic (NB), Dominica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Gambia, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Hungary, Iran [Islamic Republic of], Israel, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Macedonia [The Former Yugoslav Republic of], Malta, Martinique, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Oman, Peru, Romania (NB), Russia (Central Asian), Senegal, Serbia, South Africa, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and The Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Virgin Islands (British), Virgin Islands (U.S.).
Unknown to Afghanistan.
Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.
Population
Estimated population is 17,000,000 - 18,000,000 (2010).
Status VU
Depletion of food sources, oil spills and pollution, susceptibility to avian influenza are the main threats.
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.
Food
Marine fish and invertebrates.
Voice
A musical, 'kit-ee-wak', hence its name. Highly vocal at colonies.
Black-legged Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) [XC189862]
by Martin St-Michel from Bempton Cliffs, Flamborough Head, Northumberland, United Kingdom (call, flight call)
Black-legged Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) [XC311598]
by david m from Bempton, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom (call, flight call)
Nest
Compacted cup of mud, grass and seaweed on a cliff ledge.
Eggs (Guide)
1 - 3, usually 2; variable, from pale blue-grey to buffish and brown, with grey and brown spots and blotches. Incubation: 22 - 23 days; by both sexes.
Subspecies
Morphometric analysis links it with the white-headed gulls.
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
tridactyla (Linnaeus, 1758) - Northern Atlantic, from north-central Canada and north-eastern USA east through Greenland to western and northern Europe, and on to northern Taymyr Peninsula and Severnaya Zemlya. Winters south to Sargasso Sea and western Africa.
pollicaris Ridgway, 1884 - Northern Pacific, from north-eastern Siberia, Kamchatka, Sea of Okhotsk and Kuril Is through Bering Sea to Alaska. Winters south to East China Sea and north-western Mexico.
The Reader's Digest Book of British Birds 1980, 3rd Edition, Drive Publications Ltd ISBN 0 340 25308 8
Birds in Colour Campbell, B., 1960, Penguin Books Ltd
The Pocket Guide to Nest and Eggs Fitter, R.S.R., 1954, Collins
RSPB Handbook of British Birds Holden, P., Cleeves, T., 2002, A & C Black ISBN 0 7136 5713 8
Birds of Britain and Europe Sterry, P., et al., 2001, AA Publishing ISBN 0 7495 3068 5
The Popular Handbook of British Birds Hollom, P.A.D., 1973, H.F. & G. Witherby Ltd ISBN 0 85493 002 7
BirdLife International Species Factsheet