Small gull with short black legs. Breeding adults have a thin yellow bill.
Nonbreeding adults have a black smudge behind the eye, but retain the yellow bill. Note the short black legs.
Adults have clean gray backs while juveniles have a black bar on the wing that becomes a bold "M" pattern in flight.
Immature Black-legged Kittiwakes have a striking "M" pattern on the back and a black mark across the back of the neck. Note black terminal band on the tail.
Wings are more rounded than other gull species, and they tend to beat their wings more rapidly. Note the solid black wingtips.
Flies with stiff and rapid wingbeats. Note the small amount of black on the tips of the wings.
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A small gull with a plump belly. Kittiwakes look sleek in flight, with rather long, narrow wings, a short, notched tail, and a slim, fairly short bill.
Larger than a Bonaparte’s Gull, slightly smaller than a Ring-billed Gull.
crow-sizedOrnithologists recognize two subspecies: the smaller tridactyla of the Arctic and North Atlantic; and the larger pollicaris of the North Pacific, in which adults have more black in the primaries than Atlantic tridactyla.
Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers(Order: Charadriiformes, Family: Laridae)
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