At first glance, it looks very similar: a neat white head and body, soft grey back and wings, and black wingtips that look dipped in ink. Get closer, though, and the differences pop out. As the name suggests, its legs and feet are a bright coral red instead of black, the bill is shorter and a little deeper, the head is rounder with big dark eyes, and the grey of the wings is darker, so the contrast with the black tips is softer. Juveniles are even more subtle: unlike young black-legged kittiwakes, they lack the bold black “W” pattern across the wings and the dark tail band, looking more like slightly duller versions of the adults.

Geographically, this species is a true local specialist. It breeds only on a handful of steep, sea-cliff islands in the Bering Sea and nearby waters: mainly the Pribilof Islands (St. Paul and St. George), a few Aleutian islands such as Buldir and Bogoslof, and the Commander Islands off Russia, with recent evidence of birds prospecting or breeding on St. Matthew Island to the north. At these colonies, it nests shoulder-to-shoulder with huge numbers of black-legged kittiwakes, murres and other seabirds, plastering small mud-and-vegetation nests onto tiny ledges high above the sea.

Out at sea, red-legged kittiwakes behave like miniature pelagic predators, working cold, productive waters over deep basins and along the edge of the continental shelf. They feed mostly on small fish such as lanternfish and pollock, plus squid and zooplankton like krill and large copepods. Foraging birds often patrol just above the surface, taking short dips and shallow plunges within half a metre of the water to snatch prey.

Distribution

Country

Population est.

Status

Year

Comments

Canada

2018

Non-Breeding

Japan

2018

Vagrant

Russia

2018

Breeding: Eastern Asian Russia

United States

2018

Breeding