Rissa brevirostris
The Red-legged Kittiwake, Rissa brevirostris, is a stunningly specialized and highly pelagic gull of the subarctic North Pacific, renowned for its diagnostic bright coral-red legs, a feature unique among gulls. This medium-sized gull, measuring 35-39 cm (14-15 inches) in length with a wingspan of 84-92 cm (33-36 inches) and weighing around 300-400 grams, sports a pristine white head and body, a pale gray back and upperwings, and distinctive black primary tips lacking any white mirror. Its sho...
Primarily a pelagic species, the Red-legged Kittiwake breeds on steep, inaccessible cliff faces and ledges of remote oceanic islands in the subarctic, from sea level to several hundred meters elevation.
Their diet consists mainly of small schooling fish such as capelin, sandlance, and juvenile pollock, supplemented by marine invertebrates like copepods and squid, primarily caught by surface-dipping or shallow plunge-diving.
Red-legged Kittiwakes are largely diurnal, spending the breeding season in dense colonies on cliffs and the non-breeding season far out at sea. Their foraging strategy involves surface-dipping and shallow plunge-diving to catch small fish and marine invertebrates, often following schools of prey ...
The Red-legged Kittiwake has a restricted breeding range centered on the Bering Sea and North Pacific. Key breeding colonies are found on the Pribilof Islands (especially St. George and St. Paul), the Commander Islands, and other Aleutian Islands, as well as a few Russian islands such as Bogoslof...
Vulnerable
- The Red-legged Kittiwake is the only gull species in the world to have bright red legs. - Its scientific name, *brevirostris*, literally means 'short-billed,' accurately describing one of its key identification features. - Unlike most gulls, it rarely ventures inland, spending almost its entire...