Black-legged kittiwake
Rissa tridactyla
Identification Tips:
- Sexes similar
- Medium-sized gull
- Bill relatively slim with indistinct gonydeal angle
- Black legs
Adult alternate:
- Bright yellow unmarked bill
- Dark eye
- White head, neck, breast, and belly
- Gray back and upperwings
- Thin white tertial crescent
- Primary tips black with no white spots
- White tail
Adult basic:
- Like adult alternate but dark smudges on nape
Juvenile/First-year:
- Black bill
- Black ear spot
- Black collar
- White head, tail, and underparts
- Gray back
- Black outer primaries and carpal bar contrasting with paler inner
primaries and secondaries
- Black terminal tail band
Similar species:
Only the Red-legged Kittiwake shares the solid black wingtips and
plain yellow bill of the adult Black-legged Kittiwake. The adult Red-legged
Kittiwake has a darker mantle, shorter bill, darker color underprimaries, and
red legs. Immature Black-legged Kittiwakes have bold wing patterns that are
similar to immature Bonaparte's, Black-headed, and Little gulls but have a
distinctive black collar. Immature Red-legged Kittiwakes lack a black tail
band and dark carpal bar.