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MarinePlatform nestLarge · 416 g
What the Black-legged Kittiwake sounds like
ID tip
The red-legged kittiwake is the only other species in the genus Rissa and can be differentiated from its counterpart by its red legs, as the name suggests. The head of the red-legged kittiwake is slightly smaller and bears a shorter bill. The chicks of the Pacific black-legged kittiwake and red-legged kittiwake cannot be distinguished during their youngest downy phase. Voice: The kittiwake is named after its call that resembles a long "kit-ti-wake". Apart from their typical call, kittiwakes have a wide array of calls. Their greeting call is used by the two members of a pair when meeting at the nest after an absence of one or both members. Before and during copulation, the female will often call by making a series of short high pitched "squeak".
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
When to see the Black-legged Kittiwake
One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is June, the month with the most records.
Where to see the Black-legged Kittiwake
The map shades 58 countries with regular records, and 11 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.
Recorded as a rare visitor in India, Serbia, Tunisia, French Guiana, Kuwait, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Georgia, Mongolia, Luxembourg.
About the Black-legged Kittiwake
The black-legged kittiwake is a seabird species in the gull family Laridae. This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae as Larus tridactylus. The English name is derived from its call, a shrill 'kittee-wa-aaake, kitte-wa-aaake'. In North America, this species is known as the black-legged kittiwake to differentiate it from the red-legged kittiwake, but in Europe, where it is the only member of the genus, it is often known just as kittiwake.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Easily confused with
Side by side: Black-legged Kittiwake vs Red-legged Kittiwake
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