The Black-legged Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) is a highly pelagic gull, 37–41 cm long with a wingspan of roughly 91–105 cm and a weight of 300–510 grams. Head and underside are white, the upperparts a pure pale grey, and the bill plain yellow; the surest mark on an adult is the wingtip, which is entirely black without the white spots most other gulls show, as though dipped in ink. The legs are short and dark, and juveniles are easy to recognise by a bold black W or zigzag pattern across the upperwing, a black nape spot and a black band at the tail tip. Its loud, shrill, three-note "kitti-veik" call — the source of its English name — is heard mainly from its noisy, densely packed colonies.
A numerous breeder around the North Atlantic, with major colonies in Norway, Iceland and Britain, the Black-legged Kittiwake is only a very sparse and irregular breeder in Sweden itself, having nested on the island of Nidingen off Halland since first recorded there in 1967, and formerly also at Lake Luossajärvi near Kiruna until mining operations drained parts of the lake. Otherwise it occurs in Swedish waters mainly in winter and on migration along the west coast, often driven in by strong westerly storms; the global population has declined sharply, linked to changes in the marine environment and reduced availability of small fish. On its main colonies it nests on narrow ledges of steep, often vertical sea cliffs, building a compact cup of seaweed, grass and mud, and laying 1–2 eggs; unlike other gull chicks, the young stay on their narrow ledge, fed by both parents, until fledged. It feeds on small fish, plankton and crustaceans caught at or just below the surface, and often follows fishing boats — the best time to see it in Sweden is October to March on an exposed west-coast headland, especially after hard westerly gales.
Read about this species in Swedish →