Red-legged kittiwake (Rissa brevirostris)

Description

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Red-legged kittiwake fact file

• Description
• Biology
• Range
• Habitat
• Status
• Threats
• Conservation
• Find out more
• Glossary
• References
• Print factsheet

Red-legged kittiwake description

The red-legged kittiwake is a smallish gull, easily identified by its scarlet coloured legs ⁽²⁾. Adults are largely white in colour but the back and the upperwings are dark grey. The wings have black tips, and the yellow bill is short ⁽³⁾. Juveniles and birds in their first winter have more black feathers on the outer part of the wing, and can appear similar to the immature stages of other species of gulls; they can, however, be distinguished by their solid white tail ⁽³⁾. The only species that adults may be confused with is the black-legged kittiwake, but as the name suggests, it has black legs ^{(2) (3)}.

Size

Length: 35 - 39 cm ⁽²⁾

Red-legged kittiwake biology

The red-legged kittiwake breeds in colonies on sheer cliffs ⁽⁴⁾. They arrive at the breeding colonies in April and depart in September, dispersing to the south over the open ocean over the north-east Pacific and as far east as the Gulf of Alaska ⁽⁴⁾. A single brood, consisting of two eggs, is produced each breeding season. The eggs are incubated for 23 to 32 days, and the chicks fledge at 38 to 48 days of age ⁽³⁾.

Feeds on small fish (such as lampfish), marine invertebrates, including squid, and on carrion ^{(4) (3)}.

Red-legged kittiwake range

This species breeds on islands off Alaska, USA (Pribilof, Bogoslof and Buldir Islands) and on the Commander Islands, Russia ^{(3) (2)}. The total population was estimated to number 259,000 individuals in the 1970s, but this figure had fallen to 168,000 by 1990. Most of this decline occurred on the Pribilofs, but there was also a possible slight decline on the Commander Islands ⁽⁴⁾. The population seems to have stabilised recently ⁽⁴⁾.

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Red-legged kittiwake habitat

Found on the open ocean and breeds on vertical sea cliffs ⁽⁴⁾.

Red-legged kittiwake status

Classified as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List 2007 ⁽¹⁾.

Red-legged kittiwake threats

Although the reasons for the decline of this species are not fully known, it is thought that it may be the result of commercial over-fishing that has reduced food availability ⁽²⁾. A recent development was the construction of a harbour in the Pribilof Islands, which greatly increases the risk of rats being accidentally introduced to the islands. Predation by rats at the breeding colonies would pose a very serious threat to the red-legged kittiwake ^{(2) (4)}.

Red-legged kittiwake conservation

Many of the Alaskan breeding colonies are protected by the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. Furthermore, on the Pribilof Islands a rat prevention programme is underway ⁽⁴⁾. There is a need for a long-term monitoring programme in order to detect any changes in numbers in the breeding colonies and the threats facing the species must be better understood, in particular the impact of fisheries needs to be established ⁽⁴⁾. It has been proposed that a buffer zone should be set up around the Pribilofs, in which fishing would be controlled ^{(4) (2)}.

View information on this species at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

Find out more

 For more information on the red-legged kittiwake:

• BirdLife International. (2001) Threatened Birds of Asia: the BirdLife International Red Data Book. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.
• BirdLife International:
  http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=3256&m=0

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Glossary

Carrion

The flesh of a dead animal.

Colonies

A group of organisms living together. Individuals in the group are not physiologically connected and may not be related, such as a colony of birds.

Invertebrates

Animals with no backbone.

References

1. IUCN Red List (May, 2008)
   http://www.iucnredlist.org
2. BirdLife International (May, 2008)
   http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=3256&m=0
3. Red-legged kittiwake - United States Geological Survey (March, 2004)
   http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i0410id.html
4. BirdLife International. (2001) Threatened Birds of Asia: the BirdLife International Red Data Book. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.